diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/cluster/Partition.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/cluster/Partition.scala
index a58f4238ff..88b337311d 100755
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/cluster/Partition.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/cluster/Partition.scala
@@ -581,9 +581,6 @@ class Partition(val topicPartition: TopicPartition,
       leaderEpochStartOffsetOpt = Some(leaderEpochStartOffset)
       zkVersion = partitionState.zkVersion
 
-      // Clear any pending AlterIsr requests and check replica state
-      alterIsrManager.clearPending(topicPartition)
-
       // In the case of successive leader elections in a short time period, a follower may have
       // entries in its log from a later epoch than any entry in the new leader's log. In order
       // to ensure that these followers can truncate to the right offset, we must cache the new
@@ -661,9 +658,6 @@ class Partition(val topicPartition: TopicPartition,
       leaderEpochStartOffsetOpt = None
       zkVersion = partitionState.zkVersion
 
-      // Since we might have been a leader previously, still clear any pending AlterIsr requests
-      alterIsrManager.clearPending(topicPartition)
-
       if (leaderReplicaIdOpt.contains(newLeaderBrokerId) && leaderEpoch == oldLeaderEpoch) {
         false
       } else {
@@ -1373,13 +1367,15 @@ class Partition(val topicPartition: TopicPartition,
     isrState = proposedIsrState
 
     if (!alterIsrManager.submit(alterIsrItem)) {
-      // If the ISR manager did not accept our update, we need to revert back to previous state
+      // If the ISR manager did not accept our update, we need to revert the proposed state.
+      // This can happen if the ISR state was updated by the controller (via LeaderAndIsr in ZK-mode or
+      // ChangePartitionRecord in KRaft mode) but we have an AlterIsr request still in-flight.
       isrState = oldState
       isrChangeListener.markFailed()
-      throw new IllegalStateException(s"Failed to enqueue ISR change state $newLeaderAndIsr for partition $topicPartition")
+      warn(s"Failed to enqueue ISR change state $newLeaderAndIsr for partition $topicPartition")
+    } else {
+      debug(s"Enqueued ISR change to state $newLeaderAndIsr after transition to $proposedIsrState")
     }
-
-    debug(s"Enqueued ISR change to state $newLeaderAndIsr after transition to $proposedIsrState")
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/AlterIsrManager.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/AlterIsrManager.scala
index 9ad734f708..1059a3df3e 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/AlterIsrManager.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/AlterIsrManager.scala
@@ -49,8 +49,6 @@ trait AlterIsrManager {
   def shutdown(): Unit = {}
 
   def submit(alterIsrItem: AlterIsrItem): Boolean
-
-  def clearPending(topicPartition: TopicPartition): Unit
 }
 
 case class AlterIsrItem(topicPartition: TopicPartition,
@@ -134,9 +132,6 @@ class DefaultAlterIsrManager(
     enqueued
   }
 
-  override def clearPending(topicPartition: TopicPartition): Unit = {
-    unsentIsrUpdates.remove(topicPartition)
-  }
 
   private[server] def maybePropagateIsrChanges(): Unit = {
     // Send all pending items if there is not already a request in-flight.
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/ZkIsrManager.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/ZkIsrManager.scala
index 2d88aac6b4..8dffcdf307 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/ZkIsrManager.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/ZkIsrManager.scala
@@ -55,12 +55,6 @@ class ZkIsrManager(scheduler: Scheduler, time: Time, zkClient: KafkaZkClient) ex
       period = isrChangeNotificationConfig.checkIntervalMs, unit = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
   }
 
-  override def clearPending(topicPartition: TopicPartition): Unit = {
-    // Since we always immediately process ZK updates and never actually enqueue anything, there is nothing to
-    // clear here so this is a no-op. Even if there are changes that have not been propagated, the write to ZK
-    // has already happened, so we may as well send the notification to the controller.
-  }
-
   override def submit(alterIsrItem: AlterIsrItem): Boolean = {
     debug(s"Writing new ISR ${alterIsrItem.leaderAndIsr.isr} to ZooKeeper with version " +
       s"${alterIsrItem.leaderAndIsr.zkVersion} for partition ${alterIsrItem.topicPartition}")
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/controller/ControllerIntegrationTest.scala b/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/controller/ControllerIntegrationTest.scala
index 5eedb63ae5..4dbd735753 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/controller/ControllerIntegrationTest.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/controller/ControllerIntegrationTest.scala
@@ -18,10 +18,10 @@
 package kafka.controller
 
 import java.util.Properties
-import java.util.concurrent.{CountDownLatch, LinkedBlockingQueue}
-
+import java.util.concurrent.{CompletableFuture, CountDownLatch, LinkedBlockingQueue, TimeUnit}
 import com.yammer.metrics.core.Timer
 import kafka.api.{ApiVersion, KAFKA_2_6_IV0, KAFKA_2_7_IV0, LeaderAndIsr}
+import kafka.controller.KafkaController.AlterIsrCallback
 import kafka.metrics.KafkaYammerMetrics
 import kafka.server.{KafkaConfig, KafkaServer}
 import kafka.utils.{LogCaptureAppender, TestUtils}
@@ -849,6 +849,67 @@ class ControllerIntegrationTest extends ZooKeeperTestHarness {
     latch.await()
   }
 
+  @Test
+  def testAlterIsrErrors(): Unit = {
+    servers = makeServers(1)
+    val controllerId = TestUtils.waitUntilControllerElected(zkClient)
+    val tp = new TopicPartition("t", 0)
+    val assignment = Map(tp.partition -> Seq(controllerId))
+    TestUtils.createTopic(zkClient, tp.topic, partitionReplicaAssignment = assignment, servers = servers)
+    val controller = getController().kafkaController
+    var future = captureAlterIsrError(controllerId, controller.brokerEpoch - 1,
+      Map(tp -> LeaderAndIsr(controllerId, List(controllerId))))
+    var capturedError = future.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+    assertEquals(Errors.STALE_BROKER_EPOCH, capturedError)
+
+    future = captureAlterIsrError(99, controller.brokerEpoch,
+      Map(tp -> LeaderAndIsr(controllerId, List(controllerId))))
+    capturedError = future.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+    assertEquals(Errors.STALE_BROKER_EPOCH, capturedError)
+
+    val unknownTopicPartition = new TopicPartition("unknown", 99)
+    future = captureAlterIsrPartitionError(controllerId, controller.brokerEpoch,
+      Map(unknownTopicPartition -> LeaderAndIsr(controllerId, List(controllerId))), unknownTopicPartition)
+    capturedError = future.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+    assertEquals(Errors.UNKNOWN_TOPIC_OR_PARTITION, capturedError)
+
+    future = captureAlterIsrPartitionError(controllerId, controller.brokerEpoch,
+      Map(tp -> LeaderAndIsr(controllerId, 1, List(controllerId), 99)), tp)
+    capturedError = future.get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+    assertEquals(Errors.INVALID_UPDATE_VERSION, capturedError)
+  }
+
+  def captureAlterIsrError(brokerId: Int, brokerEpoch: Long, isrsToAlter: Map[TopicPartition, LeaderAndIsr]): CompletableFuture[Errors] = {
+    val future = new CompletableFuture[Errors]()
+    val controller = getController().kafkaController
+    val callback: AlterIsrCallback = {
+      case Left(_: Map[TopicPartition, Either[Errors, LeaderAndIsr]]) =>
+        future.completeExceptionally(new AssertionError(s"Should have seen top-level error"))
+      case Right(error: Errors) =>
+        future.complete(error)
+    }
+    controller.eventManager.put(AlterIsrReceived(brokerId, brokerEpoch, isrsToAlter, callback))
+    future
+  }
+
+  def captureAlterIsrPartitionError(brokerId: Int, brokerEpoch: Long, isrsToAlter: Map[TopicPartition, LeaderAndIsr], tp: TopicPartition): CompletableFuture[Errors] = {
+    val future = new CompletableFuture[Errors]()
+    val controller = getController().kafkaController
+    val callback: AlterIsrCallback = {
+      case Left(partitionResults: Map[TopicPartition, Either[Errors, LeaderAndIsr]]) =>
+        partitionResults.get(tp) match {
+          case Some(Left(error: Errors)) => future.complete(error)
+          case Some(Right(_: LeaderAndIsr)) => future.completeExceptionally(new AssertionError(s"Should have seen an error for $tp in result"))
+          case None => future.completeExceptionally(new AssertionError(s"Should have seen $tp in result"))
+        }
+      case Right(_: Errors) =>
+        future.completeExceptionally(new AssertionError(s"Should not seen top-level error"))
+    }
+    controller.eventManager.put(AlterIsrReceived(brokerId, brokerEpoch, isrsToAlter, callback))
+    future
+  }
+
+
   @Test
   def testTopicIdsAreAdded(): Unit = {
     servers = makeServers(1)
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/server/AlterIsrManagerTest.scala b/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/server/AlterIsrManagerTest.scala
index 1074fd3157..1c8c81471f 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/server/AlterIsrManagerTest.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/server/AlterIsrManagerTest.scala
@@ -70,8 +70,10 @@ class AlterIsrManagerTest {
   @Test
   def testOverwriteWithinBatch(): Unit = {
     val capture = EasyMock.newCapture[AbstractRequest.Builder[AlterIsrRequest]]()
+    val callbackCapture = EasyMock.newCapture[ControllerRequestCompletionHandler]()
+
     EasyMock.expect(brokerToController.start())
-    EasyMock.expect(brokerToController.sendRequest(EasyMock.capture(capture), EasyMock.anyObject())).once()
+    EasyMock.expect(brokerToController.sendRequest(EasyMock.capture(capture), EasyMock.capture(callbackCapture))).times(2)
     EasyMock.replay(brokerToController)
 
     val scheduler = new MockScheduler(time)
@@ -81,11 +83,21 @@ class AlterIsrManagerTest {
     // Only send one ISR update for a given topic+partition
     assertTrue(alterIsrManager.submit(AlterIsrItem(tp0, new LeaderAndIsr(1, 1, List(1,2,3), 10), _ => {}, 0)))
     assertFalse(alterIsrManager.submit(AlterIsrItem(tp0, new LeaderAndIsr(1, 1, List(1,2), 10), _ => {}, 0)))
+
+    // Simulate response
+    val alterIsrResp = partitionResponse(tp0, Errors.NONE)
+    val resp = new ClientResponse(null, null, "", 0L, 0L,
+      false, null, null, alterIsrResp)
+    callbackCapture.getValue.onComplete(resp)
+
+    // Now we can submit this partition again
+    assertTrue(alterIsrManager.submit(AlterIsrItem(tp0, new LeaderAndIsr(1, 1, List(1), 10), _ => {}, 0)))
     EasyMock.verify(brokerToController)
 
+    // Make sure we sent the right request ISR={1}
     val request = capture.getValue.build()
     assertEquals(request.data().topics().size(), 1)
-    assertEquals(request.data().topics().get(0).partitions().get(0).newIsr().size(), 3)
+    assertEquals(request.data().topics().get(0).partitions().get(0).newIsr().size(), 1)
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/utils/TestUtils.scala b/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/utils/TestUtils.scala
index 43df2b97f4..8e52007bc7 100755
--- a/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/utils/TestUtils.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/utils/TestUtils.scala
@@ -1106,10 +1106,6 @@ object TestUtils extends Logging {
       }
     }
 
-    override def clearPending(topicPartition: TopicPartition): Unit = {
-      inFlight.set(false);
-    }
-
     def completeIsrUpdate(newZkVersion: Int): Unit = {
       if (inFlight.compareAndSet(true, false)) {
         val item = isrUpdates.head