diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/debug/package.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/debug/package.scala
index 6c40104e52a5f..3cbebca14f7dc 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/debug/package.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/debug/package.scala
@@ -107,12 +107,17 @@ package object debug {
    */
   def codegenStringSeq(plan: SparkPlan): Seq[(String, String, ByteCodeStats)] = {
     val codegenSubtrees = new collection.mutable.HashSet[WholeStageCodegenExec]()
-    plan transform {
-      case s: WholeStageCodegenExec =>
-        codegenSubtrees += s
-        s
-      case s => s
+
+    def findSubtrees(plan: SparkPlan): Unit = {
+      plan foreach {
+        case s: WholeStageCodegenExec =>
+          codegenSubtrees += s
+        case s =>
+          s.subqueries.foreach(findSubtrees)
+      }
     }
+
+    findSubtrees(plan)
     codegenSubtrees.toSeq.sortBy(_.codegenStageId).map { subtree =>
       val (_, source) = subtree.doCodeGen()
       val codeStats = try {
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/BenchmarkQueryTest.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/BenchmarkQueryTest.scala
index 2c3b37a1498ec..d58bf2c6260b1 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/BenchmarkQueryTest.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/BenchmarkQueryTest.scala
@@ -63,11 +63,17 @@ abstract class BenchmarkQueryTest extends QueryTest with SharedSparkSession {
 
   protected def checkGeneratedCode(plan: SparkPlan, checkMethodCodeSize: Boolean = true): Unit = {
     val codegenSubtrees = new collection.mutable.HashSet[WholeStageCodegenExec]()
-    plan foreach {
-      case s: WholeStageCodegenExec =>
-        codegenSubtrees += s
-      case _ =>
+
+    def findSubtrees(plan: SparkPlan): Unit = {
+      plan foreach {
+        case s: WholeStageCodegenExec =>
+          codegenSubtrees += s
+        case s =>
+          s.subqueries.foreach(findSubtrees)
+      }
     }
+
+    findSubtrees(plan)
     codegenSubtrees.toSeq.foreach { subtree =>
       val code = subtree.doCodeGen()._2
       val (_, ByteCodeStats(maxMethodCodeSize, _, _)) = try {
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/ExplainSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/ExplainSuite.scala
index 8b7459fddb59a..bf100c0205efa 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/ExplainSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/ExplainSuite.scala
@@ -228,6 +228,22 @@ class ExplainSuite extends ExplainSuiteHelper with DisableAdaptiveExecutionSuite
     }
   }
 
+  test("SPARK-33853: explain codegen - check presence of subquery") {
+    withSQLConf(SQLConf.WHOLESTAGE_CODEGEN_ENABLED.key -> "true") {
+      withTempView("df") {
+        val df1 = spark.range(1, 100)
+        df1.createTempView("df")
+
+        val sqlText = "EXPLAIN CODEGEN SELECT (SELECT min(id) FROM df)"
+        val expectedText = "Found 3 WholeStageCodegen subtrees."
+
+        withNormalizedExplain(sqlText) { normalizedOutput =>
+          assert(normalizedOutput.contains(expectedText))
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   test("explain formatted - check presence of subquery in case of DPP") {
     withTable("df1", "df2") {
       withSQLConf(SQLConf.DYNAMIC_PARTITION_PRUNING_ENABLED.key -> "true",