AbstractA pseudo‐hyperoval of a projective space , q even, is a set of subspaces of dimension such that any three span the whole space. We prove that a pseudo‐hyperoval with an irreducible transitive stabilizer is elementary. We then deduce from this result a classification of the thick generalized quadrangles that admit a point‐primitive, line‐transitive automorphism group with a point‐regular abelian normal subgroup. Specifically, we show that is flag‐transitive and isomorphic to , where is either the regular hyperoval of PG(2, 4) or the Lunelli–Sce hyperoval of PG(2, 16).