diff --git a/docs/root/version_history/current.rst b/docs/root/version_history/current.rst
index 8a6bd863c3ef8..1baf70bdf6956 100644
--- a/docs/root/version_history/current.rst
+++ b/docs/root/version_history/current.rst
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ Bug Fixes
 * ext_authz: fix the ext_authz http filter to correctly set response flags to ``UAEX`` when a connection is denied.
 * ext_authz: fix the ext_authz network filter to correctly set response flag and code details to ``UAEX`` when a connection is denied.
 * listener: fixed issue where more than one listener could listen on the same port if using reuse port, thus randomly accepting connections on different listeners. This configuration is now rejected.
+* thrift_proxy: do not close downstream connections when an upstream connection overflow happens.
 * thrift_proxy: fix the thrift_proxy connection manager to correctly report success/error response metrics when performing :ref:`payload passthrough <envoy_v3_api_field_extensions.filters.network.thrift_proxy.v3.ThriftProxy.payload_passthrough>`.
 
 Removed Config or Runtime
diff --git a/source/extensions/filters/network/thrift_proxy/router/upstream_request.cc b/source/extensions/filters/network/thrift_proxy/router/upstream_request.cc
index b1cededafe95a..6947a9856d0e8 100644
--- a/source/extensions/filters/network/thrift_proxy/router/upstream_request.cc
+++ b/source/extensions/filters/network/thrift_proxy/router/upstream_request.cc
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ void UpstreamRequest::onResetStream(ConnectionPool::PoolFailureReason reason) {
     stats_.incResponseLocalException(parent_.cluster());
     parent_.sendLocalReply(AppException(AppExceptionType::InternalError,
                                         "thrift upstream request: too many connections"),
-                           true);
+                           false /* Don't close the downstream connection. */);
     break;
   case ConnectionPool::PoolFailureReason::LocalConnectionFailure:
     upstream_host_->outlierDetector().putResult(
diff --git a/test/extensions/filters/network/thrift_proxy/router_test.cc b/test/extensions/filters/network/thrift_proxy/router_test.cc
index c001013f01886..199a261210c7d 100644
--- a/test/extensions/filters/network/thrift_proxy/router_test.cc
+++ b/test/extensions/filters/network/thrift_proxy/router_test.cc
@@ -759,7 +759,7 @@ TEST_F(ThriftRouterTest, PoolOverflowFailure) {
         auto& app_ex = dynamic_cast<const AppException&>(response);
         EXPECT_EQ(AppExceptionType::InternalError, app_ex.type_);
         EXPECT_THAT(app_ex.what(), ContainsRegex(".*too many connections.*"));
-        EXPECT_TRUE(end_stream);
+        EXPECT_FALSE(end_stream);
       }));
   context_.cluster_manager_.thread_local_cluster_.tcp_conn_pool_.poolFailure(
       ConnectionPool::PoolFailureReason::Overflow, true);