diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 4fedf091a2..c140f62b7c 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ Merged from 3.11:
  * Fix NPE when using udfContext in UDF after a restart of a node (CASSANDRA-18739)
  * Moved jflex from runtime to build dependencies (CASSANDRA-18664)
 Merged from 3.0:
+ * Do not set RPC_READY to false on transports shutdown in order to not fail counter updates for deployments with coordinator and storage nodes with transports turned off (CASSANDRA-18935)
  * Suppress CVE-2023-44487 (CASSANDRA-18943)
  * Fix nodetool enable/disablebinary to correctly set rpc readiness in gossip (CASSANDRA-18935)
  * Implement the logic in bin/stop-server (CASSANDRA-18838) 
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/CassandraDaemon.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/CassandraDaemon.java
index 6f12abf835..201701634d 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/CassandraDaemon.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/CassandraDaemon.java
@@ -860,7 +860,6 @@ public class CassandraDaemon
     {
         if (nativeTransportService != null)
         {
-            StorageService.instance.setRpcReady(false);
             nativeTransportService.stop();
         }
     }
diff --git a/test/distributed/org/apache/cassandra/distributed/test/NativeProtocolTest.java b/test/distributed/org/apache/cassandra/distributed/test/NativeProtocolTest.java
index f00835e40b..16c53c9648 100644
--- a/test/distributed/org/apache/cassandra/distributed/test/NativeProtocolTest.java
+++ b/test/distributed/org/apache/cassandra/distributed/test/NativeProtocolTest.java
@@ -147,9 +147,10 @@ public class NativeProtocolTest extends TestBaseImpl
             i.runOnInstance((IIsolatedExecutor.SerializableRunnable) () -> StorageService.instance.startNativeTransport());
             assertTrue(i.callOnInstance((IIsolatedExecutor.SerializableCallable<Boolean>) () -> StorageService.instance.isRpcReady(FBUtilities.getBroadcastAddressAndPort())));
 
-            // by calling e.g. nodetool disablebinary, rpc will be set to false again
+            // by calling e.g. nodetool disablebinary, rpc will NOT be set to false again
+            // please read CASSANDRA-18935 for in-depth explanation why it is so
             i.runOnInstance((IIsolatedExecutor.SerializableRunnable) () -> StorageService.instance.stopNativeTransport());
-            assertFalse(i.callOnInstance((IIsolatedExecutor.SerializableCallable<Boolean>) () -> StorageService.instance.isRpcReady(FBUtilities.getBroadcastAddressAndPort())));
+            assertTrue(i.callOnInstance((IIsolatedExecutor.SerializableCallable<Boolean>) () -> StorageService.instance.isRpcReady(FBUtilities.getBroadcastAddressAndPort())));
         }
     }
 }
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