diff --git a/crates/chain-state/src/deferred_trie.rs b/crates/chain-state/src/deferred_trie.rs
index 2bf9627632..1dfcb2f27e 100644
--- a/crates/chain-state/src/deferred_trie.rs
+++ b/crates/chain-state/src/deferred_trie.rs
@@ -256,36 +256,16 @@ impl DeferredTrieData {
     /// Merge all ancestors into a single overlay.
     ///
     /// This is the slow path used when the parent's overlay cannot be reused
-    /// (e.g., after persist when anchor changes).
+    /// (e.g., after persist when anchor changes). Iterates ancestors oldest -> newest
+    /// so newer state takes precedence.
     ///
-    /// # Optimization
-    /// Instead of iterating all ancestors from scratch, we find the most recent
-    /// ancestor that has a cached `anchored_trie_input` and use that as the base.
-    /// This reduces O(N) work to O(N - M) work where M is the cached depth.
+    /// Note: We intentionally do NOT reuse ancestor cached overlays here because
+    /// those overlays were built with a different anchor_hash. The slow path is
+    /// triggered precisely because the anchor changed, so we must rebuild from
+    /// each ancestor's per-block state changes.
     fn merge_ancestors_into_overlay(ancestors: &[Self]) -> TrieInputSorted {
-        // Find the most recent ancestor (searching from newest to oldest) that has
-        // a cached trie_input overlay. We can use that as our base and only merge
-        // the remaining ancestors.
-        let mut base_idx = 0;
         let mut overlay = TrieInputSorted::default();
-
-        for (idx, ancestor) in ancestors.iter().enumerate().rev() {
-            let ancestor_data = ancestor.wait_cloned();
-            if let Some(anchored) = &ancestor_data.anchored_trie_input {
-                // Found a cached overlay! Use it as our base.
-                // We only need to merge ancestors after this one.
-                overlay = TrieInputSorted::new(
-                    Arc::clone(&anchored.trie_input.nodes),
-                    Arc::clone(&anchored.trie_input.state),
-                    Default::default(),
-                );
-                base_idx = idx + 1; // Start merging from the next ancestor
-                break;
-            }
-        }
-
-        // Merge only the ancestors after the cached base (if any)
-        for ancestor in &ancestors[base_idx..] {
+        for ancestor in ancestors {
             let ancestor_data = ancestor.wait_cloned();
             {
                 let will_clone = Arc::strong_count(&overlay.state) > 1;