diff --git a/src/cluster_legacy.c b/src/cluster_legacy.c
index 0a1e00469b..21bdd09919 100644
--- a/src/cluster_legacy.c
+++ b/src/cluster_legacy.c
@@ -3416,25 +3416,6 @@ int clusterProcessPacket(clusterLink *link) {
             }
         }
 
-        /* Explicitly check for a replication loop before attempting the replication
-         * chain folding logic. */
-        if (myself->replicaof && myself->replicaof->replicaof && myself->replicaof->replicaof != myself) {
-            /* Safeguard against sub-replicas.
-             *
-             * A replica's primary can turn itself into a replica if its last slot
-             * is removed. If no other node takes over the slot, there is nothing
-             * else to trigger replica migration. In this case, they are not in the
-             * same shard, so a full sync is required.
-             *
-             * Or a replica's primary can turn itself into a replica of its other
-             * replica during a failover. In this case, they are in the same shard,
-             * so we can try a psync. */
-            serverLog(LL_NOTICE, "I'm a sub-replica! Reconfiguring myself as a replica of %.40s from %.40s",
-                      myself->replicaof->replicaof->name, myself->replicaof->name);
-            clusterSetPrimary(myself->replicaof->replicaof, 1, !areInSameShard(myself->replicaof->replicaof, myself));
-            clusterDoBeforeSleep(CLUSTER_TODO_SAVE_CONFIG | CLUSTER_TODO_UPDATE_STATE | CLUSTER_TODO_FSYNC_CONFIG);
-        }
-
         /* If our config epoch collides with the sender's try to fix
          * the problem. */
         if (sender && nodeIsPrimary(myself) && nodeIsPrimary(sender) &&
diff --git a/tests/unit/cluster/replica-migration.tcl b/tests/unit/cluster/replica-migration.tcl
index 06e9d70ee7..0d232b2765 100644
--- a/tests/unit/cluster/replica-migration.tcl
+++ b/tests/unit/cluster/replica-migration.tcl
@@ -11,6 +11,14 @@ proc my_slot_allocation {masters replicas} {
     R [expr $masters-1] cluster addslots 0
 }
 
+proc get_my_primary_peer {srv_idx} {
+    set role_response [R $srv_idx role]
+    set primary_ip [lindex $role_response 1]
+    set primary_port [lindex $role_response 2]
+    set primary_peer "$primary_ip:$primary_port"
+    return $primary_peer
+}
+
 proc test_migrated_replica {type} {
     test "Migrated replica reports zero repl offset and rank, and fails to win election - $type" {
         # Write some data to primary 0, slot 1, make a small repl_offset.
@@ -190,7 +198,7 @@ proc test_nonempty_replica {type} {
         if {$type == "sigstop"} {
             resume_process $primary0_pid
 
-            # Waiting the old primary go online and become a replica.
+            # Wait for the old primary to go online and become a replica.
             wait_for_condition 1000 50 {
                 [s 0 role] eq {slave}
             } else {
@@ -208,6 +216,124 @@ start_cluster 4 4 {tags {external:skip cluster} overrides {cluster-node-timeout
     test_nonempty_replica "sigstop"
 } my_slot_allocation cluster_allocate_replicas ;# start_cluster
 
+proc test_sub_replica {type} {
+    test "Sub-replica reports zero repl offset and rank, and fails to win election - $type" {
+        # Write some data to primary 0, slot 1, make a small repl_offset.
+        for {set i 0} {$i < 1024} {incr i} {
+            R 0 incr key_991803
+        }
+        assert_equal {1024} [R 0 get key_991803]
+
+        # Write some data to primary 3, slot 0, make a big repl_offset.
+        for {set i 0} {$i < 10240} {incr i} {
+            R 3 incr key_977613
+        }
+        assert_equal {10240} [R 3 get key_977613]
+
+        R 3 config set cluster-replica-validity-factor 0
+        R 7 config set cluster-replica-validity-factor 0
+        R 3 config set cluster-allow-replica-migration yes
+        R 7 config set cluster-allow-replica-migration no
+
+        # 10s, make sure primary 0 will hang in the save.
+        R 0 config set rdb-key-save-delay 100000000
+
+        # Move slot 0 from primary 3 to primary 0.
+        set addr "[srv 0 host]:[srv 0 port]"
+        set myid [R 3 CLUSTER MYID]
+        set code [catch {
+            exec src/valkey-cli {*}[valkeycli_tls_config "./tests"] --cluster rebalance $addr --cluster-weight $myid=0
+        } result]
+        if {$code != 0} {
+            fail "valkey-cli --cluster rebalance returns non-zero exit code, output below:\n$result"
+        }
+
+        # Make sure server 3 and server 7 becomes a replica of primary 0.
+        wait_for_condition 1000 50 {
+            [get_my_primary_peer 3] eq $addr &&
+            [get_my_primary_peer 7] eq $addr
+        } else {
+            puts "R 3 role: [R 3 role]"
+            puts "R 7 role: [R 7 role]"
+            fail "Server 3 and 7 role response has not changed"
+        }
+
+        # Make sure server 7 got a sub-replica log.
+        verify_log_message -7 "*I'm a sub-replica!*" 0
+
+        if {$type == "shutdown"} {
+            # Shutdown primary 0.
+            catch {R 0 shutdown nosave}
+        } elseif {$type == "sigstop"} {
+            # Pause primary 0.
+            set primary0_pid [s 0 process_id]
+            pause_process $primary0_pid
+        }
+
+        # Wait for the replica to become a primary, and make sure
+        # the other primary become a replica.
+        wait_for_condition 1000 50 {
+            [s -4 role] eq {master} &&
+            [s -3 role] eq {slave} &&
+            [s -7 role] eq {slave}
+        } else {
+            puts "s -4 role: [s -4 role]"
+            puts "s -3 role: [s -3 role]"
+            puts "s -7 role: [s -7 role]"
+            fail "Failover does not happened"
+        }
+
+        # Make sure the offset of server 3 / 7 is 0.
+        verify_log_message -3 "*Start of election*offset 0*" 0
+        verify_log_message -7 "*Start of election*offset 0*" 0
+
+        # Wait for the cluster to be ok.
+        wait_for_condition 1000 50 {
+            [CI 3 cluster_state] eq "ok" &&
+            [CI 4 cluster_state] eq "ok" &&
+            [CI 7 cluster_state] eq "ok"
+        } else {
+            puts "R 3: [R 3 cluster info]"
+            puts "R 4: [R 4 cluster info]"
+            puts "R 7: [R 7 cluster info]"
+            fail "Cluster is down"
+        }
+
+        # Make sure the key exists and is consistent.
+        R 3 readonly
+        R 7 readonly
+        wait_for_condition 1000 50 {
+            [R 3 get key_991803] == 1024 && [R 3 get key_977613] == 10240 &&
+            [R 4 get key_991803] == 1024 && [R 4 get key_977613] == 10240 &&
+            [R 7 get key_991803] == 1024 && [R 7 get key_977613] == 10240
+        } else {
+            puts "R 3: [R 3 keys *]"
+            puts "R 4: [R 4 keys *]"
+            puts "R 7: [R 7 keys *]"
+            fail "Key not consistent"
+        }
+
+        if {$type == "sigstop"} {
+            resume_process $primary0_pid
+
+            # Wait for the old primary to go online and become a replica.
+            wait_for_condition 1000 50 {
+                [s 0 role] eq {slave}
+            } else {
+                fail "The old primary was not converted into replica"
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+start_cluster 4 4 {tags {external:skip cluster} overrides {cluster-node-timeout 1000 cluster-migration-barrier 999}} {
+    test_sub_replica "shutdown"
+} my_slot_allocation cluster_allocate_replicas ;# start_cluster
+
+start_cluster 4 4 {tags {external:skip cluster} overrides {cluster-node-timeout 1000 cluster-migration-barrier 999}} {
+    test_sub_replica "sigstop"
+} my_slot_allocation cluster_allocate_replicas ;# start_cluster
+
 start_cluster 4 4 {tags {external:skip cluster} overrides {cluster-node-timeout 1000 cluster-migration-barrier 999}} {
     test "valkey-cli make source node ignores NOREPLICAS error when doing the last CLUSTER SETSLOT" {
         R 3 config set cluster-allow-replica-migration no