diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/controller/KafkaController.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/controller/KafkaController.scala
index 82be66ae2cbe2..c6916a2ac34f9 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/controller/KafkaController.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/controller/KafkaController.scala
@@ -1065,7 +1065,7 @@ class KafkaController(val config: KafkaConfig,
       if (imbalanceRatio > (config.leaderImbalancePerBrokerPercentage.toDouble / 100)) {
         // do this check only if the broker is live and there are no partitions being reassigned currently
         // and preferred replica election is not in progress
-        val candidatePartitions = topicsNotInPreferredReplica.keys.filter(tp => controllerContext.isReplicaOnline(leaderBroker, tp) &&
+        val candidatePartitions = topicsNotInPreferredReplica.keys.filter(tp =>
           controllerContext.partitionsBeingReassigned.isEmpty &&
           !topicDeletionManager.isTopicQueuedUpForDeletion(tp.topic) &&
           controllerContext.allTopics.contains(tp.topic) &&