diff --git a/src/material/menu/menu-trigger.ts b/src/material/menu/menu-trigger.ts
index a0c0afc187e2..d7f85f2a22d1 100644
--- a/src/material/menu/menu-trigger.ts
+++ b/src/material/menu/menu-trigger.ts
@@ -412,11 +412,11 @@ export class MatMenuTrigger implements AfterContentInit, OnDestroy {
         config.positionStrategy as FlexibleConnectedPositionStrategy,
       );
       this._overlayRef = this._overlay.create(config);
-
-      // Consume the `keydownEvents` in order to prevent them from going to another overlay.
-      // Ideally we'd also have our keyboard event logic in here, however doing so will
-      // break anybody that may have implemented the `MatMenuPanel` themselves.
-      this._overlayRef.keydownEvents().subscribe();
+      this._overlayRef.keydownEvents().subscribe(event => {
+        if (this.menu instanceof MatMenu) {
+          this.menu._handleKeydown(event);
+        }
+      });
     }
 
     return this._overlayRef;
diff --git a/src/material/menu/menu.html b/src/material/menu/menu.html
index 77f78f1d71b6..1c77f023b8b7 100644
--- a/src/material/menu/menu.html
+++ b/src/material/menu/menu.html
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
     class="mat-mdc-menu-panel"
     [id]="panelId"
     [class]="_classList"
-    (keydown)="_handleKeydown($event)"
     (click)="closed.emit('click')"
     [@transformMenu]="_panelAnimationState"
     (@transformMenu.start)="_onAnimationStart($event)"
diff --git a/src/material/menu/menu.spec.ts b/src/material/menu/menu.spec.ts
index 8de50ba1cadd..fc7de98f0928 100644
--- a/src/material/menu/menu.spec.ts
+++ b/src/material/menu/menu.spec.ts
@@ -473,16 +473,13 @@ describe('MatMenu', () => {
     fixture.componentInstance.trigger.openMenu();
 
     const panel = overlayContainerElement.querySelector('.mat-mdc-menu-panel')!;
-    const event = createKeyboardEvent('keydown', ESCAPE);
-    spyOn(event, 'stopPropagation').and.callThrough();
+    const event = dispatchKeyboardEvent(panel, 'keydown', ESCAPE);
 
-    dispatchEvent(panel, event);
     fixture.detectChanges();
     tick(500);
 
     expect(overlayContainerElement.textContent).toBe('');
     expect(event.defaultPrevented).toBe(true);
-    expect(event.stopPropagation).toHaveBeenCalled();
   }));
 
   it('should not close the menu when pressing ESCAPE with a modifier', fakeAsync(() => {
diff --git a/src/material/menu/menu.ts b/src/material/menu/menu.ts
index 809fe23c440c..e3ae2558567e 100644
--- a/src/material/menu/menu.ts
+++ b/src/material/menu/menu.ts
@@ -385,10 +385,6 @@ export class MatMenu implements AfterContentInit, MatMenuPanel<MatMenuItem>, OnI
         manager.onKeydown(event);
         return;
     }
-
-    // Don't allow the event to propagate if we've already handled it, or it may
-    // end up reaching other overlays that were opened earlier (see #22694).
-    event.stopPropagation();
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/material/menu/testing/menu-harness.ts b/src/material/menu/testing/menu-harness.ts
index 890ad26bcd0d..753aa8c676f9 100644
--- a/src/material/menu/testing/menu-harness.ts
+++ b/src/material/menu/testing/menu-harness.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ import {
   HarnessLoader,
   HarnessPredicate,
   TestElement,
-  TestKey,
 } from '@angular/cdk/testing';
 import {coerceBooleanProperty} from '@angular/cdk/coercion';
 import {MenuHarnessFilters, MenuItemHarnessFilters} from './menu-harness-filters';
@@ -82,7 +81,7 @@ export class MatMenuHarness extends ContentContainerComponentHarness<string> {
   async close(): Promise<void> {
     const panel = await this._getMenuPanel();
     if (panel) {
-      return panel.sendKeys(TestKey.ESCAPE);
+      return panel.click();
     }
   }