diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentSubscription.java b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentSubscription.java
index a96a7e75506eb..fd00711d05364 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentSubscription.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentSubscription.java
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ public class PersistentSubscription extends AbstractSubscription {
     // for connected subscriptions, message expiry will be checked if the backlog is greater than this threshold
     private static final int MINIMUM_BACKLOG_FOR_EXPIRY_CHECK = 1000;
 
-    protected static final String REPLICATED_SUBSCRIPTION_PROPERTY = "pulsar.replicated.subscription";
+    public static final String REPLICATED_SUBSCRIPTION_PROPERTY = "pulsar.replicated.subscription";
 
     // Map of properties that is used to mark this subscription as "replicated".
     // Since this is the only field at this point, we can just keep a static
diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentTopic.java b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentTopic.java
index 08a481b7051c6..e444b976bc18e 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentTopic.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentTopic.java
@@ -1115,10 +1115,6 @@ public void openCursorComplete(ManagedCursor cursor, Object ctx) {
                         return;
                     }
                 }
-                if (replicated != null && replicated && !subscription.isReplicated()) {
-                    // Flip the subscription state
-                    subscription.setReplicated(replicated);
-                }
 
                 if (startMessageRollbackDurationSec > 0) {
                     resetSubscriptionCursor(subscription, subscriptionFuture, startMessageRollbackDurationSec);
diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/api/ReplicateSubscriptionTest.java b/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/api/ReplicateSubscriptionTest.java
index 327081bf1b9c8..0d9a4b5164496 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/api/ReplicateSubscriptionTest.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/api/ReplicateSubscriptionTest.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
  */
 package org.apache.pulsar.client.api;
 
+import static org.apache.pulsar.broker.service.persistent.PersistentSubscription.REPLICATED_SUBSCRIPTION_PROPERTY;
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 import static org.testng.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.testng.Assert.assertNotNull;
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@
 import org.apache.pulsar.broker.service.Subscription;
 import org.apache.pulsar.broker.service.Topic;
 import org.apache.pulsar.broker.service.persistent.PersistentSubscription;
+import org.apache.pulsar.client.admin.PulsarAdminException;
 import org.apache.pulsar.client.impl.ConsumerBuilderImpl;
 import org.testng.annotations.AfterClass;
 import org.testng.annotations.BeforeClass;
@@ -93,4 +95,43 @@ public void testReplicateSubscriptionState(Boolean replicateSubscriptionState)
                     return true;
                 });
     }
+
+    @Test(dataProvider = "replicateSubscriptionState")
+    public void testExistingSubscriptionWithReplicateSubscriptionState(Boolean replicateSubscriptionState)
+            throws Exception {
+        String subName = "my-sub-" + System.nanoTime();
+        String topic = "persistent://my-property/my-ns/" + System.nanoTime();
+
+        ConsumerBuilder<byte[]> consumer1Builder = pulsarClient.newConsumer().topic(topic).subscriptionName(subName);
+        if (replicateSubscriptionState != null) {
+            consumer1Builder.replicateSubscriptionState(replicateSubscriptionState);
+        }
+        @Cleanup
+        Consumer<byte[]> consumer1 = consumer1Builder.subscribe();
+        assertReplicatedSubscriptionStatus(topic, subName, replicateSubscriptionState);
+        consumer1.close();
+
+        admin.topics().unload(topic);
+
+        ConsumerBuilder<byte[]> consumer2Builder = pulsarClient.newConsumer().topic(topic).subscriptionName(subName);
+        if (replicateSubscriptionState != null) {
+            // Reverse
+            consumer2Builder.replicateSubscriptionState(!replicateSubscriptionState);
+        }
+        @Cleanup
+        Consumer<byte[]> consumer2 = consumer2Builder.subscribe();
+        assertReplicatedSubscriptionStatus(topic, subName, replicateSubscriptionState);
+        consumer2.close();
+    }
+
+    private void assertReplicatedSubscriptionStatus(String topic, String subName, Boolean expected)
+            throws PulsarAdminException {
+        assertThat(admin.topics().getInternalStats(topic).cursors.get(subName)).isNotNull().matches(n -> {
+            Long property = n.properties.get(REPLICATED_SUBSCRIPTION_PROPERTY);
+            assertThat(property).isEqualTo(expected == null || !expected ? null : 1L);
+            return true;
+        });
+        assertThat(admin.topics().getReplicatedSubscriptionStatus(topic, subName)).containsEntry(topic,
+                expected != null && expected);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/pulsar-client-api/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/api/ConsumerBuilder.java b/pulsar-client-api/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/api/ConsumerBuilder.java
index ed77652c82340..ab2f38366aa16 100644
--- a/pulsar-client-api/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/api/ConsumerBuilder.java
+++ b/pulsar-client-api/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/api/ConsumerBuilder.java
@@ -431,8 +431,12 @@ public interface ConsumerBuilder<T> extends Cloneable {
     ConsumerBuilder<T> maxAcknowledgmentGroupSize(int messageNum);
 
     /**
+     * Configures initial replicated subscription state for a new subscription.
+     * This setting does not affect existing subscription. Default is `null`.
      *
-     * @param replicateSubscriptionState
+     * @param replicateSubscriptionState If true, the subscription state will be replicated
+     *                                   across GEO-replicated clusters. If false, replication
+     *                                   is disabled.
      */
     ConsumerBuilder<T> replicateSubscriptionState(boolean replicateSubscriptionState);