diff --git a/agent/rpc/peering/service.go b/agent/rpc/peering/service.go
index 86a8b11dc..a30eae21b 100644
--- a/agent/rpc/peering/service.go
+++ b/agent/rpc/peering/service.go
@@ -346,8 +346,7 @@ func (s *Server) Establish(
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	// we don't want to default req.Partition unlike because partitions are empty in OSS
-	if err := s.validatePeeringInPartition(tok.PeerID, req.Partition); err != nil {
+	if err := s.validatePeeringInPartition(tok.PeerID, entMeta.PartitionOrDefault()); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
@@ -409,8 +408,15 @@ func (s *Server) validatePeeringInPartition(remotePeerID, partition string) erro
 		return fmt.Errorf("cannot read peering by ID: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	if peering != nil && peering.Partition == partition {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot create a peering within the same partition (ENT) or cluster (OSS)")
+	if peering != nil {
+		stateStorePart := peering.Partition
+		if stateStorePart == "" {
+			stateStorePart = "default"
+		}
+
+		if stateStorePart == partition {
+			return fmt.Errorf("cannot create a peering within the same partition (ENT) or cluster (OSS)")
+		}
 	}
 
 	return nil