diff --git a/src/validation.cpp b/src/validation.cpp
index 09e04ff0ddb..078f88d1f20 100644
--- a/src/validation.cpp
+++ b/src/validation.cpp
@@ -1254,13 +1254,8 @@ bool MemPoolAccept::PolicyScriptChecks(const ATMPArgs& args, Workspace& ws)
     // Check input scripts and signatures.
     // This is done last to help prevent CPU exhaustion denial-of-service attacks.
     if (!CheckInputScripts(tx, state, m_view, scriptVerifyFlags, true, false, ws.m_precomputed_txdata, GetValidationCache())) {
-        // SCRIPT_VERIFY_CLEANSTACK requires SCRIPT_VERIFY_WITNESS, so we
-        // need to turn both off, and compare against just turning off CLEANSTACK
-        // to see if the failure is specifically due to witness validation.
-        TxValidationState state_dummy; // Want reported failures to be from first CheckInputScripts
-        if (!tx.HasWitness() && CheckInputScripts(tx, state_dummy, m_view, scriptVerifyFlags & ~(SCRIPT_VERIFY_WITNESS | SCRIPT_VERIFY_CLEANSTACK), true, false, ws.m_precomputed_txdata, GetValidationCache()) &&
-                !CheckInputScripts(tx, state_dummy, m_view, scriptVerifyFlags & ~SCRIPT_VERIFY_CLEANSTACK, true, false, ws.m_precomputed_txdata, GetValidationCache())) {
-            // Only the witness is missing, so the transaction itself may be fine.
+        // Detect a failure due to a missing witness so that p2p code can handle rejection caching appropriately.
+        if (!tx.HasWitness() && SpendsNonAnchorWitnessProg(tx, m_view)) {
             state.Invalid(TxValidationResult::TX_WITNESS_STRIPPED,
                     state.GetRejectReason(), state.GetDebugMessage());
         }