diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_command.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_command.go
index 305928ebfffd..e26e88906005 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_command.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_command.go
@@ -1310,32 +1310,34 @@ func (r *Replica) maybeLeaveAtomicChangeReplicasAndRemoveLearners(
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	if fn := r.store.TestingKnobs().BeforeRemovingDemotedLearner; fn != nil {
+	if fn := r.store.TestingKnobs().BeforeRemovingLearners; fn != nil {
 		fn()
 	}
-	// Now the config isn't joint any more, but we may have demoted some voters
-	// into learners. These learners should go as well.
-	learners := desc.Replicas().LearnerDescriptors()
-	if len(learners) == 0 {
-		return desc, nil
-	}
-	targets := make([]roachpb.ReplicationTarget, len(learners))
-	for i := range learners {
-		targets[i].NodeID = learners[i].NodeID
-		targets[i].StoreID = learners[i].StoreID
-	}
-	log.VEventf(ctx, 2, `removing learner replicas %v from %v`, targets, desc)
 	// NB: unroll the removals because at the time of writing, we can't atomically
 	// remove multiple learners. This will be fixed in:
 	//
 	// https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pull/40268
 	origDesc := desc
 	store := r.store
-	for _, target := range targets {
+	// Now the config isn't joint any more, but we may have demoted some voters
+	// into learners. These learners should go as well.
+	for {
+		// We loop until we've removed all learners. After every call to
+		// `execChangeReplicasTxn`, we re-check if there are any learners to be
+		// removed. This is to guarantee that when this method returns a non-error
+		// response, it will never return a `desc` that has learners.
+		learners := desc.Replicas().LearnerDescriptors()
+		if len(learners) == 0 {
+			return desc, nil
+		}
+		removalTarget := roachpb.ReplicationTarget{
+			NodeID: learners[0].NodeID, StoreID: learners[0].StoreID,
+		}
 		var err error
+		log.VEventf(ctx, 2, `removing learner replica %v from %v`, removalTarget, desc)
 		desc, err = execChangeReplicasTxn(
 			ctx, desc, kvserverpb.ReasonAbandonedLearner, "",
-			[]internalReplicationChange{{target: target, typ: internalChangeTypeRemoveLearner}},
+			[]internalReplicationChange{{target: removalTarget, typ: internalChangeTypeRemoveLearner}},
 			changeReplicasTxnArgs{db: store.DB(),
 				liveAndDeadReplicas:                  store.allocator.storePool.liveAndDeadReplicas,
 				logChange:                            store.logChange,
@@ -1347,7 +1349,6 @@ func (r *Replica) maybeLeaveAtomicChangeReplicasAndRemoveLearners(
 			return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, `removing learners from %s`, origDesc)
 		}
 	}
-	return desc, nil
 }
 
 // validateAdditionsPerStore ensures that we're not trying to add the same type
diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_learner_test.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_learner_test.go
index c20d0935fd2a..2bb0f8b7ddd4 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_learner_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_learner_test.go
@@ -1096,7 +1096,7 @@ func TestDemotedLearnerRemovalHandlesRace(t *testing.T) {
 			ServerArgs: base.TestServerArgs{
 				Knobs: base.TestingKnobs{
 					Store: &kvserver.StoreTestingKnobs{
-						BeforeRemovingDemotedLearner: func() {
+						BeforeRemovingLearners: func() {
 							if atomic.LoadInt64(&activateTestingKnob) == 1 {
 								// Signal to the test that the rebalance is now trying to remove
 								// the demoted learner.
@@ -1291,7 +1291,7 @@ func TestMergeQueueSeesLearnerOrJointConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		require.NoError(t, processErr)
 		formattedTrace := trace.String()
 		expectedMessages := []string{
-			`removing learner replicas \[n2,s2\]`,
+			`removing learner replica.*n2,s2`,
 			`merging to produce range: /Table/Max-/Max`,
 		}
 		if err := testutils.MatchInOrder(formattedTrace, expectedMessages...); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/testing_knobs.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/testing_knobs.go
index 70380c39e26d..e7bb6ed95218 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/testing_knobs.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/testing_knobs.go
@@ -304,9 +304,9 @@ type StoreTestingKnobs struct {
 	// through a joint configuration, even when this isn't necessary (because
 	// the replication change affects only one replica).
 	ReplicationAlwaysUseJointConfig func() bool
-	// BeforeRemovingDemotedLearner is run before a demoted learner (i.e. a
-	// learner that results from a range exiting its joint config) is removed.
-	BeforeRemovingDemotedLearner func()
+	// BeforeRemovingLearners is run before an abandoned or demoted learner (i.e.
+	// a learner that results from a range exiting its joint config) is removed.
+	BeforeRemovingLearners func()
 	// BeforeSnapshotSSTIngestion is run just before the SSTs are ingested when
 	// applying a snapshot.
 	BeforeSnapshotSSTIngestion func(IncomingSnapshot, kvserverpb.SnapshotRequest_Type, []string) error