diff --git a/core/mac/src/pe/lim/lim_process_auth_frame.c b/core/mac/src/pe/lim/lim_process_auth_frame.c
index f4d0216345b8..607555e8c5e2 100644
--- a/core/mac/src/pe/lim/lim_process_auth_frame.c
+++ b/core/mac/src/pe/lim/lim_process_auth_frame.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2011-2020 The Linux Foundation. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2022 Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc. All rights reserved.
  *
  * Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for
  * any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the
@@ -428,7 +429,7 @@ static void lim_process_sae_auth_frame(struct mac_context *mac_ctx,
 		       pe_session->limMlmState);
 
 	if (LIM_IS_AP_ROLE(pe_session)) {
-		struct tLimPreAuthNode *sta_pre_auth_ctx;
+		struct tLimPreAuthNode *pre_auth_node;
 
 		rx_flags = RXMGMT_FLAG_EXTERNAL_AUTH;
 		/* Add preauth node when the first SAE authentication frame
@@ -438,12 +439,16 @@ static void lim_process_sae_auth_frame(struct mac_context *mac_ctx,
 		 * SAE protocol optimizations.
 		 */
 		/* Extract pre-auth context for the STA, if any. */
-		sta_pre_auth_ctx = lim_search_pre_auth_list(mac_ctx,
-							    mac_hdr->sa);
-		if (!sta_pre_auth_ctx ||
-		    (sta_pre_auth_ctx->mlmState != eLIM_MLM_WT_SAE_AUTH_STATE &&
-		     sta_pre_auth_ctx->mlmState !=
-		     eLIM_MLM_AUTHENTICATED_STATE)) {
+		pre_auth_node = lim_search_pre_auth_list(mac_ctx, mac_hdr->sa);
+		if (!pre_auth_node ||
+		    (pre_auth_node->mlmState != eLIM_MLM_WT_SAE_AUTH_STATE)) {
+			if (pre_auth_node) {
+				pe_debug("Delete existing preauth node for SAE peer in state: %u "
+					 QDF_MAC_ADDR_FMT,
+					 pre_auth_node->mlmState,
+					 QDF_MAC_ADDR_REF(mac_hdr->sa));
+				lim_delete_pre_auth_node(mac_ctx, mac_hdr->sa);
+			}
 			lim_external_auth_add_pre_auth_node(mac_ctx, mac_hdr,
 						eLIM_MLM_WT_SAE_AUTH_STATE);
 		}