diff --git a/.changeset/witty-elephants-tease.md b/.changeset/witty-elephants-tease.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d38c0c1386e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/witty-elephants-tease.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@primer/react': patch
+---
+
+Change focus strategy for TabNav after initial focus is set
diff --git a/src/TabNav.tsx b/src/TabNav.tsx
index 451f9ed0a4d..78e5d785f39 100644
--- a/src/TabNav.tsx
+++ b/src/TabNav.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import classnames from 'classnames'
 import {To} from 'history'
-import React, {useRef} from 'react'
+import React, {useRef, useState} from 'react'
 import styled from 'styled-components'
 import {get} from './constants'
 import {FocusKeys, useFocusZone} from './hooks/useFocusZone'
@@ -30,21 +30,34 @@ export type TabNavProps = ComponentProps<typeof TabNavBase>
 
 function TabNav({children, 'aria-label': ariaLabel, ...rest}: TabNavProps) {
   const customContainerRef = useRef<HTMLElement>(null)
+  // TODO: revert tracking when `initialFocus` is set. This is a fix when TabNav
+  // is nested within another focus zone. This flag is used to indicate when
+  // focus has been initially set, this is useful for including the
+  // `aria-selected="true"` tab as the first interactive item.
+  //
+  // When set to `true`, this changes the behavior in `useFocusZone` to use
+  // the `'previous'` strategy which allows the tab to participate in nested
+  // focus zones without conflict
+  const [initialFocus, setInitialFocus] = useState(false)
   const customStrategy = React.useCallback(() => {
     if (customContainerRef.current) {
       const tabs = Array.from(
         customContainerRef.current.querySelectorAll<HTMLElement>('[role=tab][aria-selected=true]')
       )
+      setInitialFocus(true)
       return tabs[0]
     }
   }, [customContainerRef])
-  const {containerRef: navRef} = useFocusZone({
-    containerRef: customContainerRef,
-    bindKeys: FocusKeys.ArrowHorizontal | FocusKeys.HomeAndEnd,
-    focusOutBehavior: 'wrap',
-    focusInStrategy: customStrategy,
-    focusableElementFilter: element => element.getAttribute('role') === 'tab'
-  })
+  const {containerRef: navRef} = useFocusZone(
+    {
+      containerRef: customContainerRef,
+      bindKeys: FocusKeys.ArrowHorizontal | FocusKeys.HomeAndEnd,
+      focusOutBehavior: 'wrap',
+      focusInStrategy: initialFocus ? 'previous' : customStrategy,
+      focusableElementFilter: element => element.getAttribute('role') === 'tab'
+    },
+    [initialFocus]
+  )
   return (
     <TabNavBase {...rest} ref={navRef as React.RefObject<HTMLDivElement>}>
       <TabNavNav aria-label={ariaLabel}>