diff --git a/.changelog/9505.txt b/.changelog/9505.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..51320af7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/9505.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:improvement
+acl: use the presence of a management policy in the state store as a sign that we already migrated to v2 acls
+```
diff --git a/agent/consul/acl_server.go b/agent/consul/acl_server.go
index a495a312b..56627a487 100644
--- a/agent/consul/acl_server.go
+++ b/agent/consul/acl_server.go
@@ -108,6 +108,16 @@ func (s *Server) canUpgradeToNewACLs(isLeader bool) bool {
 		return false
 	}
 
+	// Check to see if we already upgraded the last time we ran by seeing if we
+	// have a copy of any global management policy stored locally. This should
+	// always be true because policies always replicate.
+	_, mgmtPolicy, err := s.fsm.State().ACLPolicyGetByID(nil, structs.ACLPolicyGlobalManagementID, structs.DefaultEnterpriseMeta())
+	if err != nil {
+		s.logger.Warn("Failed to get the builtin global-management policy to check for a completed ACL upgrade; skipping this optimization", "error", err)
+	} else if mgmtPolicy != nil {
+		return true
+	}
+
 	if !s.InACLDatacenter() {
 		foundServers, mode, _ := ServersGetACLMode(s, "", s.config.ACLDatacenter)
 		if mode != structs.ACLModeEnabled || !foundServers {
diff --git a/agent/consul/leader_test.go b/agent/consul/leader_test.go
index dfe9ffe39..08466c840 100644
--- a/agent/consul/leader_test.go
+++ b/agent/consul/leader_test.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/structs"
+	tokenStore "github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/token"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/api"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/sdk/testutil"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/sdk/testutil/retry"
@@ -1272,6 +1273,99 @@ func TestLeader_ACLUpgrade(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestLeader_ACLUpgrade_IsStickyEvenIfSerfTagsRegress(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("too slow for testing.Short")
+	}
+
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	// We test this by having two datacenters with one server each. They
+	// initially come up and complete the migration, then we power them both
+	// off. We leave the primary off permanently, and then we stand up the
+	// secondary. Hopefully it should transition to ENABLED instead of being
+	// stuck in LEGACY.
+
+	dir1, s1 := testServerWithConfig(t, func(c *Config) {
+		c.Datacenter = "dc1"
+		c.ACLDatacenter = "dc1"
+		c.ACLsEnabled = true
+		c.ACLMasterToken = "root"
+	})
+	defer os.RemoveAll(dir1)
+	defer s1.Shutdown()
+	codec := rpcClient(t, s1)
+	defer codec.Close()
+
+	waitForLeaderEstablishment(t, s1)
+
+	dir2, s2 := testServerWithConfig(t, func(c *Config) {
+		c.Datacenter = "dc2"
+		c.ACLDatacenter = "dc1"
+		c.ACLsEnabled = true
+		c.ACLTokenReplication = false
+		c.ACLReplicationRate = 100
+		c.ACLReplicationBurst = 100
+		c.ACLReplicationApplyLimit = 1000000
+	})
+	defer os.RemoveAll(dir2)
+	defer s2.Shutdown()
+	codec2 := rpcClient(t, s2)
+	defer codec2.Close()
+
+	s2.tokens.UpdateReplicationToken("root", tokenStore.TokenSourceConfig)
+
+	testrpc.WaitForLeader(t, s2.RPC, "dc2")
+	waitForLeaderEstablishment(t, s2)
+
+	// Create the WAN link
+	joinWAN(t, s2, s1)
+	waitForLeaderEstablishment(t, s1)
+	waitForLeaderEstablishment(t, s2)
+
+	waitForNewACLs(t, s1)
+	waitForNewACLs(t, s2)
+	waitForNewACLReplication(t, s2, structs.ACLReplicatePolicies, 1, 0, 0)
+
+	// Everybody has the management policy.
+	retry.Run(t, func(r *retry.R) {
+		_, policy1, err := s1.fsm.State().ACLPolicyGetByID(nil, structs.ACLPolicyGlobalManagementID, structs.DefaultEnterpriseMeta())
+		require.NoError(r, err)
+		require.NotNil(r, policy1)
+
+		_, policy2, err := s2.fsm.State().ACLPolicyGetByID(nil, structs.ACLPolicyGlobalManagementID, structs.DefaultEnterpriseMeta())
+		require.NoError(r, err)
+		require.NotNil(r, policy2)
+	})
+
+	// Shutdown s1 and s2.
+	s1.Shutdown()
+	s2.Shutdown()
+
+	// Restart just s2
+
+	dir2new, s2new := testServerWithConfig(t, func(c *Config) {
+		c.Datacenter = "dc2"
+		c.ACLDatacenter = "dc1"
+		c.ACLsEnabled = true
+		c.ACLTokenReplication = false
+		c.ACLReplicationRate = 100
+		c.ACLReplicationBurst = 100
+		c.ACLReplicationApplyLimit = 1000000
+
+		c.DataDir = s2.config.DataDir
+		c.NodeName = s2.config.NodeName
+		c.NodeID = s2.config.NodeID
+	})
+	defer os.RemoveAll(dir2new)
+	defer s2new.Shutdown()
+
+	waitForLeaderEstablishment(t, s2new)
+
+	// It should be able to transition without connectivity to the primary.
+	waitForNewACLs(t, s2new)
+}
+
 func TestLeader_ConfigEntryBootstrap(t *testing.T) {
 	if testing.Short() {
 		t.Skip("too slow for testing.Short")