diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 906df0b3..156ee860 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.16.5
 	github.com/minio/highwayhash v1.0.2
 	github.com/nats-io/jwt/v2 v2.4.1
-	github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.24.0
+	github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.26.0
 	github.com/nats-io/nkeys v0.4.4
 	github.com/nats-io/nuid v1.0.1
 	go.uber.org/automaxprocs v1.5.1
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index a0ed6701..6988df07 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ github.com/minio/highwayhash v1.0.2 h1:Aak5U0nElisjDCfPSG79Tgzkn2gl66NxOMspRrKnA
 github.com/minio/highwayhash v1.0.2/go.mod h1:BQskDq+xkJ12lmlUUi7U0M5Swg3EWR+dLTk+kldvVxY=
 github.com/nats-io/jwt/v2 v2.4.1 h1:Y35W1dgbbz2SQUYDPCaclXcuqleVmpbRa7646Jf2EX4=
 github.com/nats-io/jwt/v2 v2.4.1/go.mod h1:24BeQtRwxRV8ruvC4CojXlx/WQ/VjuwlYiH+vu/+ibI=
-github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.24.0 h1:CRiD8L5GOQu/DcfkmgBcTTIQORMwizF+rPk6T0RaHVQ=
-github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.24.0/go.mod h1:dVQF+BK3SzUZpwyzHedXsvH3EO38aVKuOPkkHlv5hXA=
+github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.26.0 h1:fWJTYPnZ8DzxIaqIHOAMfColuznchnd5Ab5dbJpgPIE=
+github.com/nats-io/nats.go v1.26.0/go.mod h1:XpbWUlOElGwTYbMR7imivs7jJj9GtK7ypv321Wp6pjc=
 github.com/nats-io/nkeys v0.4.4 h1:xvBJ8d69TznjcQl9t6//Q5xXuVhyYiSos6RPtvQNTwA=
 github.com/nats-io/nkeys v0.4.4/go.mod h1:XUkxdLPTufzlihbamfzQ7mw/VGx6ObUs+0bN5sNvt64=
 github.com/nats-io/nuid v1.0.1 h1:5iA8DT8V7q8WK2EScv2padNa/rTESc1KdnPw4TC2paw=
diff --git a/server/consumer.go b/server/consumer.go
index e5165896..61589e96 100644
--- a/server/consumer.go
+++ b/server/consumer.go
@@ -1417,9 +1417,10 @@ func (o *consumer) deleteNotActive() {
 				defer ticker.Stop()
 				for range ticker.C {
 					js.mu.RLock()
-					ca := js.consumerAssignment(acc, stream, name)
+					nca := js.consumerAssignment(acc, stream, name)
 					js.mu.RUnlock()
-					if ca != nil {
+					// Make sure this is not a new consumer with the same name.
+					if nca != nil && nca == ca {
 						s.Warnf("Consumer assignment for '%s > %s > %s' not cleaned up, retrying", acc, stream, name)
 						meta.ForwardProposal(removeEntry)
 					} else {
diff --git a/server/jetstream_cluster.go b/server/jetstream_cluster.go
index 7ebec4ba..9cfb3cc0 100644
--- a/server/jetstream_cluster.go
+++ b/server/jetstream_cluster.go
@@ -3902,8 +3902,12 @@ func (js *jetStream) processConsumerRemoval(ca *consumerAssignment) {
 	var needDelete bool
 	if accStreams := cc.streams[ca.Client.serviceAccount()]; accStreams != nil {
 		if sa := accStreams[ca.Stream]; sa != nil && sa.consumers != nil && sa.consumers[ca.Name] != nil {
-			needDelete = true
-			delete(sa.consumers, ca.Name)
+			oca := sa.consumers[ca.Name]
+			// Make sure this removal is for what we have, otherwise ignore.
+			if ca.Group != nil && oca.Group != nil && ca.Group.Name == oca.Group.Name {
+				needDelete = true
+				delete(sa.consumers, ca.Name)
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	js.mu.Unlock()
diff --git a/server/jetstream_cluster_3_test.go b/server/jetstream_cluster_3_test.go
index 3e4cd530..3922309c 100644
--- a/server/jetstream_cluster_3_test.go
+++ b/server/jetstream_cluster_3_test.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 	"reflect"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -4398,3 +4399,99 @@ func TestJetStreamClusterPurgeExReplayAfterRestart(t *testing.T) {
 			si.State.FirstSeq, si.State.LastSeq)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestJetStreamClusterConsumerCleanupWithSameName(t *testing.T) {
+	c := createJetStreamClusterExplicit(t, "R3F", 3)
+	defer c.shutdown()
+
+	// Client based API
+	nc, js := jsClientConnect(t, c.randomServer())
+	defer nc.Close()
+
+	_, err := js.AddStream(&nats.StreamConfig{
+		Name:     "UPDATES",
+		Subjects: []string{"DEVICE.*"},
+		Replicas: 3,
+	})
+	require_NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Create a consumer that will be an R1 that we will auto-recreate but using the same name.
+	// We want to make sure that the system does not continually try to cleanup the new one from the old one.
+
+	// Track the sequence for restart etc.
+	var seq atomic.Uint64
+
+	msgCB := func(msg *nats.Msg) {
+		msg.AckSync()
+		meta, err := msg.Metadata()
+		require_NoError(t, err)
+		seq.Store(meta.Sequence.Stream)
+	}
+
+	waitOnSeqDelivered := func(expected uint64) {
+		checkFor(t, 10*time.Second, 200*time.Millisecond, func() error {
+			received := seq.Load()
+			if received == expected {
+				return nil
+			}
+			return fmt.Errorf("Seq is %d, want %d", received, expected)
+		})
+	}
+
+	doSub := func() {
+		_, err = js.Subscribe(
+			"DEVICE.22",
+			msgCB,
+			nats.ConsumerName("dlc"),
+			nats.SkipConsumerLookup(),
+			nats.StartSequence(seq.Load()+1),
+			nats.MaxAckPending(1), // One at a time.
+			nats.ManualAck(),
+			nats.ConsumerReplicas(1),
+			nats.ConsumerMemoryStorage(),
+			nats.MaxDeliver(1),
+			nats.InactiveThreshold(time.Second),
+			nats.IdleHeartbeat(250*time.Millisecond),
+		)
+		require_NoError(t, err)
+	}
+
+	// Track any errors for consumer not active so we can recreate the consumer.
+	errCh := make(chan error, 10)
+	nc.SetErrorHandler(func(c *nats.Conn, s *nats.Subscription, err error) {
+		if errors.Is(err, nats.ErrConsumerNotActive) {
+			s.Unsubscribe()
+			errCh <- err
+			doSub()
+		}
+	})
+
+	doSub()
+
+	sendStreamMsg(t, nc, "DEVICE.22", "update-1")
+	sendStreamMsg(t, nc, "DEVICE.22", "update-2")
+	sendStreamMsg(t, nc, "DEVICE.22", "update-3")
+	waitOnSeqDelivered(3)
+
+	// Shutdown the consumer's leader.
+	s := c.consumerLeader(globalAccountName, "UPDATES", "dlc")
+	s.Shutdown()
+	c.waitOnStreamLeader(globalAccountName, "UPDATES")
+
+	// In case our client connection was to the same server.
+	nc, _ = jsClientConnect(t, c.randomServer())
+	defer nc.Close()
+
+	sendStreamMsg(t, nc, "DEVICE.22", "update-4")
+	sendStreamMsg(t, nc, "DEVICE.22", "update-5")
+	sendStreamMsg(t, nc, "DEVICE.22", "update-6")
+
+	// Wait for the consumer not active error.
+	<-errCh
+	// Now restart server with the old consumer.
+	c.restartServer(s)
+	// Wait on all messages delivered.
+	waitOnSeqDelivered(6)
+	// Make sure no other errors showed up
+	require_True(t, len(errCh) == 0)
+}