diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/optimizer/joins.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/optimizer/joins.scala
index b65221c236bf..a2b31278326d 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/optimizer/joins.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/optimizer/joins.scala
@@ -88,6 +88,22 @@ object ReorderJoin extends Rule[LogicalPlan] with PredicateHelper {
     }
   }
 
+  // Extract a list of logical plans to be joined for join-order comparisons.
+  // Since `ExtractFiltersAndInnerJoins` handles left-deep trees only, this function have
+  // the same strategy to extract the plan list.
+  private[optimizer] def extractLeftDeepInnerJoins(plan: LogicalPlan)
+    : Seq[LogicalPlan] = plan match {
+    case Join(left, right, _: InnerLike, _, hint) if hint == JoinHint.NONE =>
+      right +: extractLeftDeepInnerJoins(left)
+    case Filter(_, child) => extractLeftDeepInnerJoins(child)
+    case Project(_, child) => extractLeftDeepInnerJoins(child)
+    case _ => Seq(plan)
+  }
+
+  private def sameJoinOrder(plan1: LogicalPlan, plan2: LogicalPlan): Boolean = {
+    extractLeftDeepInnerJoins(plan1) == extractLeftDeepInnerJoins(plan2)
+  }
+
   def apply(plan: LogicalPlan): LogicalPlan = plan transform {
     case p @ ExtractFiltersAndInnerJoins(input, conditions)
         if input.size > 2 && conditions.nonEmpty =>
@@ -103,12 +119,18 @@ object ReorderJoin extends Rule[LogicalPlan] with PredicateHelper {
         createOrderedJoin(input, conditions)
       }
 
-      if (p.sameOutput(reordered)) {
-        reordered
+      // To avoid applying this rule repeatedly, we don't change the plan in case of
+      // the same join order between `p` and `reordered`.
+      if (!sameJoinOrder(reordered, p)) {
+        if (p.sameOutput(reordered)) {
+          reordered
+        } else {
+          // Reordering the joins have changed the order of the columns.
+          // Inject a projection to make sure we restore to the expected ordering.
+          Project(p.output, reordered)
+        }
       } else {
-        // Reordering the joins have changed the order of the columns.
-        // Inject a projection to make sure we restore to the expected ordering.
-        Project(p.output, reordered)
+        p
       }
   }
 }
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/planning/patterns.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/planning/patterns.scala
index 415ce4678811..e566938f2893 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/planning/patterns.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/planning/patterns.scala
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ object ExtractEquiJoinKeys extends Logging with PredicateHelper {
 }
 
 /**
- * A pattern that collects the filter and inner joins.
+ * A pattern that collects the filter and inner joins and skip projections with attributes only.
  *
  *          Filter
  *            |
@@ -230,6 +230,8 @@ object ExtractEquiJoinKeys extends Logging with PredicateHelper {
  *          /    \            ---->      (Seq(plan0, plan1, plan2), conditions)
  *      Filter   plan2
  *        |
+ *      Project
+ *        |
  *  inner join
  *      /    \
  *   plan0    plan1
@@ -250,22 +252,23 @@ object ExtractFiltersAndInnerJoins extends PredicateHelper {
       val (plans, conditions) = flattenJoin(left, joinType)
       (plans ++ Seq((right, joinType)), conditions ++
         cond.toSeq.flatMap(splitConjunctivePredicates))
-    case Filter(filterCondition, j @ Join(_, _, _: InnerLike, _, hint)) if hint == JoinHint.NONE =>
-      val (plans, conditions) = flattenJoin(j)
+    case Filter(filterCondition, child) =>
+      val (plans, conditions) = flattenJoin(child)
       (plans, conditions ++ splitConjunctivePredicates(filterCondition))
-
+    case p @ Project(_, child)
+        // Keep flattening joins when the project has attributes only
+        if p.projectList.forall(_.isInstanceOf[Attribute]) =>
+      flattenJoin(child)
     case _ => (Seq((plan, parentJoinType)), Seq.empty)
   }
 
-  def unapply(plan: LogicalPlan)
-      : Option[(Seq[(LogicalPlan, InnerLike)], Seq[Expression])]
-      = plan match {
-    case f @ Filter(filterCondition, j @ Join(_, _, joinType: InnerLike, _, hint))
-        if hint == JoinHint.NONE =>
-      Some(flattenJoin(f))
-    case j @ Join(_, _, joinType, _, hint) if hint == JoinHint.NONE =>
-      Some(flattenJoin(j))
-    case _ => None
+  def unapply(plan: LogicalPlan): Option[(Seq[(LogicalPlan, InnerLike)], Seq[Expression])] = {
+    val (plans, conditions) = flattenJoin(plan)
+    if (plans.size > 1) {
+      Some((plans, conditions))
+    } else {
+      None
+    }
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/optimizer/JoinOptimizationSuite.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/optimizer/JoinOptimizationSuite.scala
index 3d81c567eff1..d085d8dee204 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/optimizer/JoinOptimizationSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/optimizer/JoinOptimizationSuite.scala
@@ -20,11 +20,13 @@ package org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.optimizer
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.analysis.EliminateSubqueryAliases
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.dsl.expressions._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.dsl.plans._
-import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.Expression
+import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.{AttributeMap, Expression}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.planning.ExtractFiltersAndInnerJoins
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.plans.{Cross, Inner, InnerLike, PlanTest}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.plans.logical._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.rules.RuleExecutor
+import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.statsEstimation.StatsTestPlan
+import org.apache.spark.sql.internal.SQLConf
 
 class JoinOptimizationSuite extends PlanTest {
 
@@ -47,6 +49,20 @@ class JoinOptimizationSuite extends PlanTest {
   val testRelation = LocalRelation('a.int, 'b.int, 'c.int)
   val testRelation1 = LocalRelation('d.int)
 
+  private def testExtractCheckCross(
+      plan: LogicalPlan,
+      expected: Option[(Seq[(LogicalPlan, InnerLike)], Seq[Expression])]): Unit = {
+    ExtractFiltersAndInnerJoins.unapply(plan) match {
+      case Some((input, conditions)) =>
+        expected.map { case (expectedPlans, expectedConditions) =>
+          assert(expectedPlans === input)
+          assert(expectedConditions.toSet === conditions.toSet)
+        }
+      case None =>
+        assert(expected.isEmpty)
+    }
+  }
+
   test("extract filters and joins") {
     val x = testRelation.subquery('x)
     val y = testRelation1.subquery('y)
@@ -64,12 +80,6 @@ class JoinOptimizationSuite extends PlanTest {
       testExtractCheckCross(plan, expectedNoCross)
     }
 
-    def testExtractCheckCross(plan: LogicalPlan,
-        expected: Option[(Seq[(LogicalPlan, InnerLike)], Seq[Expression])]): Unit = {
-      assert(
-        ExtractFiltersAndInnerJoins.unapply(plan) === expected.map(e => (e._1, e._2)))
-    }
-
     testExtract(x, None)
     testExtract(x.where("x.b".attr === 1), None)
     testExtract(x.join(y), Some((Seq(x, y), Seq())))
@@ -126,4 +136,80 @@ class JoinOptimizationSuite extends PlanTest {
       comparePlans(optimized, queryAnswerPair._2.analyze)
     }
   }
+
+  test("Skip projections when flattening joins") {
+    def checkExtractInnerJoins(plan: LogicalPlan): Unit = {
+      val expectedTables = plan.collectLeaves().map { case p => (p, Inner) }
+      val expectedConditions = plan.collect {
+        case Join(_, _, _, Some(cond), _) => cond
+        case Filter(cond, _) => cond
+      }
+      testExtractCheckCross(plan, Some((expectedTables, expectedConditions)))
+    }
+
+    val x = testRelation.subquery('x)
+    val y = testRelation1.subquery('y)
+    val z = testRelation.subquery('z)
+    var joined = x.join(z, Inner, Some($"x.b" === $"z.b"))
+      .select($"x.a", $"z.a", $"z.c")
+      .join(y, Inner, Some($"y.d" === $"z.a")).analyze
+    checkExtractInnerJoins(joined)
+
+    // test case for project-over-filter
+    joined = x.join(z, Inner, Some($"x.b" === $"z.b"))
+      .select($"x.a", $"z.a", $"z.c")
+      .where($"y.d" === 3)
+      .join(y, Inner, Some($"y.d" === $"z.a")).analyze
+    checkExtractInnerJoins(joined)
+
+    // test case for filter-over-project
+    joined = x.join(z, Inner, Some($"x.b" === $"z.b"))
+      .where($"z.a" === 1)
+      .select($"x.a", $"z.a", $"z.c")
+      .join(y, Inner, Some($"y.d" === $"z.a")).analyze
+    checkExtractInnerJoins(joined)
+  }
+
+  test("Reorder joins with projections") {
+    withSQLConf(
+        SQLConf.STARSCHEMA_DETECTION.key -> "true",
+        SQLConf.CBO_ENABLED.key -> "false") {
+      val r0output = Seq('a.int, 'b.int, 'c.int)
+      val r0colStat = ColumnStat(distinctCount = Some(100000000), nullCount = Some(0))
+      val r0colStats = AttributeMap(r0output.map(_ -> r0colStat))
+      val r0 = StatsTestPlan(r0output, 100000000, r0colStats, identifier = Some("r0")).subquery('r0)
+
+      val r1output = Seq('a.int, 'd.int)
+      val r1colStat = ColumnStat(distinctCount = Some(10), nullCount = Some(0))
+      val r1colStats = AttributeMap(r1output.map(_ -> r1colStat))
+      val r1 = StatsTestPlan(r1output, 10, r1colStats, identifier = Some("r1")).subquery('r1)
+
+      val r2output = Seq('b.int, 'e.int)
+      val r2colStat = ColumnStat(distinctCount = Some(100), nullCount = Some(0))
+      val r2colStats = AttributeMap(r2output.map(_ -> r2colStat))
+      val r2 = StatsTestPlan(r2output, 100, r2colStats, identifier = Some("r2")).subquery('r2)
+
+      val r3output = Seq('c.int, 'f.int)
+      val r3colStat = ColumnStat(distinctCount = Some(1), nullCount = Some(0))
+      val r3colStats = AttributeMap(r3output.map(_ -> r3colStat))
+      val r3 = StatsTestPlan(r3output, 1, r3colStats, identifier = Some("r3")).subquery('r3)
+
+      val joined = r0.join(r1, Inner, Some($"r0.a" === $"r1.a"))
+        .select($"r0.b", $"r0.c", $"r1.d")
+        .where($"r1.d" >= 3)
+        .join(r2, Inner, Some($"r0.b" === $"r2.b"))
+        .where($"r2.e" >= 5)
+        .select($"r0.c", $"r1.d", $"r2.e")
+        .join(r3, Inner, Some($"r0.c" === $"r3.c"))
+        .select($"r1.d", $"r2.e", $"r3.f")
+        .where($"r3.f" <= 100)
+        .analyze
+
+      val optimized = Optimize.execute(joined)
+      val optJoins = ReorderJoin.extractLeftDeepInnerJoins(optimized)
+      val joinOrder = optJoins.flatMap(_.collect{ case p: StatsTestPlan => p }.headOption)
+        .flatMap(_.identifier)
+      assert(joinOrder === Seq("r2", "r1", "r3", "r0"))
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/statsEstimation/StatsEstimationTestBase.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/statsEstimation/StatsEstimationTestBase.scala
index 9dceca59f5b8..de743147c9dd 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/statsEstimation/StatsEstimationTestBase.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/statsEstimation/StatsEstimationTestBase.scala
@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@ case class StatsTestPlan(
     outputList: Seq[Attribute],
     rowCount: BigInt,
     attributeStats: AttributeMap[ColumnStat],
-    size: Option[BigInt] = None) extends LeafNode {
+    size: Option[BigInt] = None,
+    identifier: Option[String] = None) extends LeafNode {
   override def output: Seq[Attribute] = outputList
   override def computeStats(): Statistics = Statistics(
     // If sizeInBytes is useless in testing, we just use a fake value