diff --git a/lib/auth/grpcserver.go b/lib/auth/grpcserver.go
index 8d8411969a5fa..685dd70217be0 100644
--- a/lib/auth/grpcserver.go
+++ b/lib/auth/grpcserver.go
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ import (
 	apievents "github.com/gravitational/teleport/api/types/events"
 	"github.com/gravitational/teleport/api/types/installers"
 	"github.com/gravitational/teleport/api/types/wrappers"
+	apiutils "github.com/gravitational/teleport/api/utils"
 	"github.com/gravitational/teleport/lib/auth/assist/assistv1"
 	"github.com/gravitational/teleport/lib/auth/discoveryconfig/discoveryconfigv1"
 	integrationService "github.com/gravitational/teleport/lib/auth/integration/integrationv1"
@@ -2090,6 +2091,12 @@ func maybeDowngradeRoleLabelExpressions(ctx context.Context, role *types.RoleV6,
 	if !clientVersion.LessThan(minSupportedLabelExpressionVersion) {
 		return role, nil
 	}
+	// Make a shallow copy of the role so that we don't mutate the original.
+	// This is necessary because the role is shared
+	// between multiple clients sessions when notifying about changes in watchers.
+	// If we mutate the original role, it will be mutated for all clients
+	// which can cause panics since it causes a race condition.
+	role = apiutils.CloneProtoMsg(role)
 	hasLabelExpression := false
 	for _, kind := range types.LabelMatcherKinds {
 		allowLabelMatchers, err := role.GetLabelMatchers(types.Allow, kind)
@@ -2163,11 +2170,13 @@ func downgradeRoleToV6(r *types.RoleV6) (*types.RoleV6, bool, error) {
 	case types.V3, types.V4, types.V5, types.V6:
 		return r, false, nil
 	case types.V7:
-		var (
-			downgraded types.RoleV6
-			restricted bool
-		)
-		downgraded = *r
+		var restricted bool
+		// Make a shallow copy of the role so that we don't mutate the original.
+		// This is necessary because the role is shared
+		// between multiple clients sessions when notifying about changes in watchers.
+		// If we mutate the original role, it will be mutated for all clients
+		// which can cause panics since it causes a race condition.
+		downgraded := apiutils.CloneProtoMsg(r)
 		downgraded.Version = types.V6
 
 		if len(downgraded.GetKubeResources(types.Deny)) > 0 {
@@ -2225,7 +2234,7 @@ func downgradeRoleToV6(r *types.RoleV6) (*types.RoleV6, bool, error) {
 			restricted = true
 		}
 
-		return &downgraded, restricted, nil
+		return downgraded, restricted, nil
 	default:
 		return nil, false, trace.BadParameter("unrecognized role version %T", r.Version)
 	}
diff --git a/lib/auth/grpcserver_test.go b/lib/auth/grpcserver_test.go
index a5aee4568cee2..1c3c9c0646d09 100644
--- a/lib/auth/grpcserver_test.go
+++ b/lib/auth/grpcserver_test.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/pem"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"maps"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/coreos/go-semver/semver"
 	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
 	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp/cmpopts"
 	"github.com/google/uuid"
@@ -1808,10 +1810,9 @@ func TestIsMFARequired(t *testing.T) {
 
 					// If auth pref or role require session MFA, and MFA is not already
 					// verified according to private key policy, expect MFA required.
-					wantRequired :=
-						(role.GetOptions().RequireMFAType.IsSessionMFARequired() || authPref.GetRequireMFAType().IsSessionMFARequired()) &&
-							!role.GetPrivateKeyPolicy().MFAVerified() &&
-							!authPref.GetPrivateKeyPolicy().MFAVerified()
+					wantRequired := (role.GetOptions().RequireMFAType.IsSessionMFARequired() || authPref.GetRequireMFAType().IsSessionMFARequired()) &&
+						!role.GetPrivateKeyPolicy().MFAVerified() &&
+						!authPref.GetPrivateKeyPolicy().MFAVerified()
 					var wantMFARequired proto.MFARequired
 					if wantRequired {
 						wantMFARequired = proto.MFARequired_MFA_REQUIRED_YES
@@ -3930,8 +3931,12 @@ func TestRoleVersions(t *testing.T) {
 
 	wildcardLabels := types.Labels{types.Wildcard: {types.Wildcard}}
 
+	originalLabels := map[string]string{"env": "staging"}
 	newRole := func(version string, spec types.RoleSpecV6) types.Role {
 		role, err := types.NewRoleWithVersion("test_rule", version, spec)
+		meta := role.GetMetadata()
+		meta.Labels = maps.Clone(originalLabels)
+		role.SetMetadata(meta)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		return role
 	}
@@ -4150,6 +4155,15 @@ func TestRoleVersions(t *testing.T) {
 							require.NoError(t, err)
 						}
 					}
+
+					// Call maybeDowngrade directly to make sure the original
+					// role isn't modified
+					sv, err := semver.NewVersion(clientVersion)
+					if err == nil {
+						_, err := maybeDowngradeRoleToV6(ctx, role.(*types.RoleV6), sv)
+						require.NoError(t, err)
+						require.Equal(t, originalLabels, role.GetMetadata().Labels)
+					}
 				})
 			}
 		})