diff --git a/sql/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/rel/PartialDruidQuery.java b/sql/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/rel/PartialDruidQuery.java
index 727e448b17a2..068ff49308dd 100644
--- a/sql/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/rel/PartialDruidQuery.java
+++ b/sql/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/rel/PartialDruidQuery.java
@@ -78,7 +78,14 @@ public enum Stage
 
     // WHERE_FILTER, SELECT_PROJECT may be present on any query, except ones with WINDOW.
     WHERE_FILTER,
-    SELECT_PROJECT,
+    SELECT_PROJECT {
+      @Override
+      public boolean canFollow(Stage stage)
+      {
+        // SELECT_PROJECT can be stacked on top of another SELECT_PROJECT.
+        return stage.compareTo(this) <= 0;
+      }
+    },
 
     // AGGREGATE, HAVING_FILTER, AGGREGATE_PROJECT can be present on non-WINDOW aggregating queries.
     AGGREGATE,
diff --git a/sql/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/rule/DruidRules.java b/sql/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/rule/DruidRules.java
index 52841fd99a01..b5e91916cfae 100644
--- a/sql/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/rule/DruidRules.java
+++ b/sql/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/rule/DruidRules.java
@@ -313,9 +313,31 @@ public DruidOuterQueryRule(
     @Override
     public boolean matches(final RelOptRuleCall call)
     {
-      // Only consider doing a subquery when the stage cannot be fused into a single query.
-      final DruidRel<?> druidRel = call.rel(call.getRelList().size() - 1);
-      return !stage.canFollow(druidRel.getPartialDruidQuery().stage());
+      final DruidRel<?> lowerDruidRel = call.rel(call.getRelList().size() - 1);
+      final RelNode lowerRel = lowerDruidRel.getPartialDruidQuery().leafRel();
+      final PartialDruidQuery.Stage lowerStage = lowerDruidRel.getPartialDruidQuery().stage();
+
+      if (stage.canFollow(lowerStage)
+          || (stage == PartialDruidQuery.Stage.WHERE_FILTER
+              && PartialDruidQuery.Stage.HAVING_FILTER.canFollow(lowerStage))
+          || (stage == PartialDruidQuery.Stage.SELECT_PROJECT
+             && PartialDruidQuery.Stage.SORT_PROJECT.canFollow(lowerStage))) {
+        // Don't consider cases that can be fused into a single query.
+        return false;
+      } else if (stage == PartialDruidQuery.Stage.WHERE_FILTER && lowerRel instanceof Filter) {
+        // Don't consider filter-on-filter. FilterMergeRule will handle it.
+        return false;
+      } else if (stage == PartialDruidQuery.Stage.WHERE_FILTER
+                 && lowerStage == PartialDruidQuery.Stage.SELECT_PROJECT) {
+        // Don't consider filter-on-project. ProjectFilterTransposeRule will handle it by swapping them.
+        return false;
+      } else if (stage == PartialDruidQuery.Stage.SELECT_PROJECT && lowerRel instanceof Project) {
+        // Don't consider project-on-project. ProjectMergeRule will handle it.
+        return false;
+      } else {
+        // Consider subqueries in all other cases.
+        return true;
+      }
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/CalciteJoinQueryTest.java b/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/CalciteJoinQueryTest.java
index be65a64e80a1..f413fc09c1ee 100644
--- a/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/CalciteJoinQueryTest.java
+++ b/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/CalciteJoinQueryTest.java
@@ -2718,8 +2718,9 @@ public void testLeftJoinOnTwoInlineDataSourcesWithTimeFilter(Map<String, Object>
                         JoinType.LEFT
                     )
                 )
+                .virtualColumns(expressionVirtualColumn("_v0", "'10.1'", ColumnType.STRING))
                 .intervals(querySegmentSpec(Filtration.eternity()))
-                .columns("__time", "v0")
+                .columns("__time", "_v0")
                 .filters(new SelectorDimFilter("v0", "10.1", null))
                 .context(queryContext)
                 .build()
@@ -2829,8 +2830,10 @@ public void testLeftJoinOnTwoInlineDataSourcesWithOuterWhere(Map<String, Object>
                         JoinType.LEFT
                     )
                 )
+                .virtualColumns(expressionVirtualColumn("_v0", "'10.1'", ColumnType.STRING))
                 .intervals(querySegmentSpec(Filtration.eternity()))
-                .columns("__time", "v0")
+                .filters(selector("v0", "10.1", null))
+                .columns("__time", "_v0")
                 .context(queryContext)
                 .build()
         ),
@@ -3022,8 +3025,9 @@ public void testInnerJoinOnTwoInlineDataSourcesWithOuterWhere(Map<String, Object
                 JoinType.INNER
             )
         )
+        .virtualColumns(expressionVirtualColumn("_v0", "'10.1'", ColumnType.STRING))
         .intervals(querySegmentSpec(Filtration.eternity()))
-        .columns("__time", "v0")
+        .columns("__time", "_v0")
         .context(queryContext);
 
     testQuery(
diff --git a/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/CalciteQueryTest.java b/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/CalciteQueryTest.java
index 9d5b0e2c52bb..dd8f8187f517 100644
--- a/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/CalciteQueryTest.java
+++ b/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/CalciteQueryTest.java
@@ -6898,12 +6898,9 @@ public void testNestedGroupBy()
                                         .setInterval(querySegmentSpec(Filtration.eternity()))
                                         .setGranularity(Granularities.ALL)
                                         .setDimensions(
-                                            useDefault ? dimensions(
+                                            dimensions(
                                                 new DefaultDimensionSpec("m2", "d0", ColumnType.DOUBLE),
                                                 new DefaultDimensionSpec("dim1", "d1")
-                                            ) : dimensions(
-                                                new DefaultDimensionSpec("dim1", "d0"),
-                                                new DefaultDimensionSpec("m2", "d1", ColumnType.DOUBLE)
                                             )
                                         )
                                         .setDimFilter(new SelectorDimFilter("m1", "5.0", null))
@@ -6922,7 +6919,7 @@ public void testNestedGroupBy()
                         )
                         .setDimensions(dimensions(
                             new DefaultDimensionSpec("v0", "_d0", ColumnType.LONG),
-                            new DefaultDimensionSpec(useDefault ? "d1" : "d0", "_d1", ColumnType.STRING)
+                            new DefaultDimensionSpec("d1", "_d1", ColumnType.STRING)
                         ))
                         .setAggregatorSpecs(
                             aggregators(
@@ -6930,7 +6927,7 @@ public void testNestedGroupBy()
                                 ? new CountAggregatorFactory("_a0")
                                 : new FilteredAggregatorFactory(
                                     new CountAggregatorFactory("_a0"),
-                                    not(selector("d1", null, null))
+                                    not(selector("d0", null, null))
                                 )
                             )
                         )
@@ -10400,6 +10397,27 @@ public void testGroupByTimeFloorAndDimOnGroupByTimeFloorAndDim()
                                                 )
                                             )
                                             .setAggregatorSpecs(aggregators(new DoubleSumAggregatorFactory("a0", "m1")))
+                                            .setPostAggregatorSpecs(
+                                                ImmutableList.of(
+                                                    expressionPostAgg(
+                                                        "p0",
+                                                        "timestamp_floor(\"d0\",'P1M',null,'UTC')"
+                                                    )
+                                                )
+                                            )
+                                            .setHavingSpec(
+                                                having(
+                                                    bound(
+                                                        "a0",
+                                                        "1",
+                                                        null,
+                                                        true,
+                                                        false,
+                                                        null,
+                                                        StringComparators.NUMERIC
+                                                    )
+                                                )
+                                            )
                                             .setContext(
                                                 withTimestampResultContext(
                                                     QUERY_CONTEXT_DEFAULT,
@@ -10413,29 +10431,10 @@ public void testGroupByTimeFloorAndDimOnGroupByTimeFloorAndDim()
                         )
                         .setInterval(querySegmentSpec(Filtration.eternity()))
                         .setGranularity(Granularities.ALL)
-                        .setVirtualColumns(
-                            expressionVirtualColumn(
-                                "v0",
-                                "timestamp_floor(\"d0\",'P1M',null,'UTC')",
-                                ColumnType.LONG
-                            )
-                        )
                         .setDimensions(
                             dimensions(
                                 new DefaultDimensionSpec("d1", "_d0"),
-                                new DefaultDimensionSpec("v0", "_d1", ColumnType.LONG)
-                            )
-                        )
-                        .setDimFilter(
-                            new BoundDimFilter(
-                                "a0",
-                                "1",
-                                null,
-                                true,
-                                null,
-                                null,
-                                null,
-                                StringComparators.NUMERIC
+                                new DefaultDimensionSpec("p0", "_d1", ColumnType.LONG)
                             )
                         )
                         .setAggregatorSpecs(aggregators(new DoubleSumAggregatorFactory("_a0", "a0")))