diff --git a/lib/topic_query.rb b/lib/topic_query.rb
index 88f6e428be..4be3541575 100644
--- a/lib/topic_query.rb
+++ b/lib/topic_query.rb
@@ -692,7 +692,10 @@ class TopicQuery
         result = result.where("topics.category_id IN (?)", Category.subcategory_ids(category_id))
         if !SiteSetting.show_category_definitions_in_topic_lists
           result =
-            result.where("categories.topic_id <> topics.id OR topics.category_id = ?", category_id)
+            result.where(
+              "categories.topic_id IS DISTINCT FROM topics.id OR topics.category_id = ?",
+              category_id,
+            )
         end
       end
       result = result.references(:categories)
diff --git a/spec/lib/topic_query_spec.rb b/spec/lib/topic_query_spec.rb
index 98442324c2..8ca8ce492e 100644
--- a/spec/lib/topic_query_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/topic_query_spec.rb
@@ -1909,4 +1909,31 @@ RSpec.describe TopicQuery do
       )
     end
   end
+
+  describe "show_category_definitions_in_topic_lists setting" do
+    fab!(:category) { Fabricate(:category_with_definition) }
+    fab!(:subcategory) { Fabricate(:category_with_definition, parent_category: category) }
+    fab!(:subcategory_regular_topic) { Fabricate(:topic, category: subcategory) }
+
+    it "excludes subcategory definition topics by default" do
+      expect(
+        TopicQuery.new(nil, category: category.id).list_latest.topics.map(&:id),
+      ).to contain_exactly(category.topic_id, subcategory_regular_topic.id)
+    end
+
+    it "works when topic_id is null" do
+      subcategory.topic.destroy!
+      subcategory.update!(topic_id: nil)
+      expect(
+        TopicQuery.new(nil, category: category.id).list_latest.topics.map(&:id),
+      ).to contain_exactly(category.topic_id, subcategory_regular_topic.id)
+    end
+
+    it "includes subcategory definition when setting enabled" do
+      SiteSetting.show_category_definitions_in_topic_lists = true
+      expect(
+        TopicQuery.new(nil, category: category.id).list_latest.topics.map(&:id),
+      ).to contain_exactly(category.topic_id, subcategory.topic_id, subcategory_regular_topic.id)
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/requests/categories_controller_spec.rb b/spec/requests/categories_controller_spec.rb
index 863ad47be4..8eec0f2bcd 100644
--- a/spec/requests/categories_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/categories_controller_spec.rb
@@ -131,10 +131,17 @@ RSpec.describe CategoriesController do
       category_list = response.parsed_body["category_list"]
 
       category_response = category_list["categories"].find { |c| c["id"] == category.id }
-      expect(category_response["topics"].map { |c| c["id"] }).to contain_exactly(topic1.id)
+      expect(category_response["topics"].map { |c| c["id"] }).to contain_exactly(
+        topic1.id,
+        topic2.id,
+        topic3.id,
+      )
 
       subcategory_response = category_response["subcategory_list"][0]
-      expect(subcategory_response["topics"].map { |c| c["id"] }).to contain_exactly(topic2.id)
+      expect(subcategory_response["topics"].map { |c| c["id"] }).to contain_exactly(
+        topic2.id,
+        topic3.id,
+      )
 
       subsubcategory_response = subcategory_response["subcategory_list"][0]
       expect(subsubcategory_response["topics"].map { |c| c["id"] }).to contain_exactly(topic3.id)