diff --git a/go/vt/sqlparser/ast_funcs.go b/go/vt/sqlparser/ast_funcs.go
index b73e84f5ee7..07c3421988b 100644
--- a/go/vt/sqlparser/ast_funcs.go
+++ b/go/vt/sqlparser/ast_funcs.go
@@ -2139,6 +2139,18 @@ func RemoveKeyspace(in SQLNode) {
 	}, in)
 }
 
+// RemoveKeyspaceInTables removes the database qualifier for all table names in the AST
+func RemoveKeyspaceInTables(in SQLNode) {
+	Rewrite(in, nil, func(cursor *Cursor) bool {
+		if tbl, ok := cursor.Node().(TableName); ok && !tbl.Qualifier.IsEmpty() {
+			tbl.Qualifier = NewIdentifierCS("")
+			cursor.Replace(tbl)
+		}
+
+		return true
+	})
+}
+
 func convertStringToInt(integer string) int {
 	val, _ := strconv.Atoi(integer)
 	return val
diff --git a/go/vt/vtgate/planbuilder/operators/subquery_planning.go b/go/vt/vtgate/planbuilder/operators/subquery_planning.go
index 2746c2e75e4..221c1f2b6de 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtgate/planbuilder/operators/subquery_planning.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtgate/planbuilder/operators/subquery_planning.go
@@ -526,6 +526,7 @@ func tryMergeSubqueryWithOuter(ctx *plancontext.PlanningContext, subQuery *SubQu
 		return outer, rewrite.SameTree, nil
 	}
 	exprs := subQuery.GetMergePredicates()
+	sqlparser.RemoveKeyspaceInTables(subQuery.Original)
 	merger := &subqueryRouteMerger{
 		outer:    outer,
 		original: subQuery.Original,
diff --git a/go/vt/vtgate/planbuilder/testdata/filter_cases.json b/go/vt/vtgate/planbuilder/testdata/filter_cases.json
index 1c648184803..ba93a798fc0 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtgate/planbuilder/testdata/filter_cases.json
+++ b/go/vt/vtgate/planbuilder/testdata/filter_cases.json
@@ -870,6 +870,29 @@
       ]
     }
   },
+  {
+    "comment": "Merging subqueries should remove keyspace from query",
+    "query": "select u.id from user.user as u where not exists (select 1 from user.user_extra as ue where u.id = ue.user_id)",
+    "plan": {
+      "QueryType": "SELECT",
+      "Original": "select u.id from user.user as u where not exists (select 1 from user.user_extra as ue where u.id = ue.user_id)",
+      "Instructions": {
+        "OperatorType": "Route",
+        "Variant": "Scatter",
+        "Keyspace": {
+          "Name": "user",
+          "Sharded": true
+        },
+        "FieldQuery": "select u.id from `user` as u where 1 != 1",
+        "Query": "select u.id from `user` as u where not exists (select 1 from user_extra as ue where u.id = ue.user_id)",
+        "Table": "`user`"
+      },
+      "TablesUsed": [
+        "user.user",
+        "user.user_extra"
+      ]
+    }
+  },
   {
     "comment": "Single table equality route with unsigned value",
     "query": "select id from user where name = 18446744073709551615",