diff --git a/core/src/cache.ts b/core/src/cache.ts
index 64fb131a97..047724a1e9 100644
--- a/core/src/cache.ts
+++ b/core/src/cache.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,13 @@ interface CacheEntry {
 
 type CacheEntries = Map<string, CacheEntry>
 
-interface ContextNode {
+/**
+ * Represents a node (either a non-leaf or a leaf) node of the context tree.
+ *
+ *  - A non-leaf node can have only children and has no entries.
+ *  - A leaf node has only entries and cannot have any children.
+ */
+export interface ContextNode {
   key: CacheContext
   children: { [contextPart: string]: ContextNode }
   entries: Set<string>
@@ -103,7 +109,7 @@ export class TreeCache {
       entry.value = value
     }
 
-    contexts.forEach((c) => (entry!.contexts[stringifyKey(c)] = c))
+    contexts.forEach((c) => (entry.contexts[stringifyKey(c)] = c))
 
     for (const context of Object.values(contexts)) {
       let node = this.contextTree
@@ -121,10 +127,13 @@ export class TreeCache {
       for (const part of context) {
         contextKey.push(part)
 
-        if (node.children[part]) {
-          node = node.children[part]
+        let child = node.children[part]
+        if (child) {
+          node = child
         } else {
-          node = node.children[part] = makeContextNode(contextKey)
+          child = makeContextNode([...contextKey])
+          node.children[part] = child
+          node = child
         }
       }
 
diff --git a/core/test/unit/src/cache.ts b/core/test/unit/src/cache.ts
index 2a4fc3f54e..647202f496 100644
--- a/core/test/unit/src/cache.ts
+++ b/core/test/unit/src/cache.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
  * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
  */
 
+import type { ContextNode } from "../../../src/cache.js"
 import { BoundedCache, TreeCache } from "../../../src/cache.js"
 import { expect } from "chai"
 import { expectError } from "../../helpers.js"
@@ -41,6 +42,61 @@ describe("TreeCache", () => {
     expect(cache.get(log, key)).to.equal(value)
   })
 
+  it("ContextNode should have consistent node states and hierarchical context keys", () => {
+    const key = ["my-key"]
+    const value = "my-value"
+    const parentContext = ["context"]
+    const contextA = [...parentContext, "a"]
+    const contextB = [...parentContext, "b"]
+
+    cache.set(log, key, value, contextA, contextB)
+
+    const contextTreeRoot = cache["contextTree"] as ContextNode
+    expect(contextTreeRoot.key).to.be.empty
+    // non-leaf nodes contain only children
+    expect(contextTreeRoot.children).to.be.not.empty
+    // non-leaf nodes do not contain any entries
+    expect(contextTreeRoot.entries).to.be.empty
+
+    const parentContextNode = contextTreeRoot.children["context"]
+    expect(parentContextNode.key).to.eql(parentContext)
+    // non-leaf nodes contain only children
+    expect(parentContextNode.children).to.be.not.empty
+    // non-leaf nodes do not contain any entries
+    expect(parentContextNode.entries).to.be.empty
+
+    const expectedEntries = new Set([JSON.stringify(key)])
+
+    const contextNodeA = parentContextNode.children["a"]
+    expect(contextNodeA.key).to.eql(contextA)
+    // leaf nodes do not contain any children
+    expect(contextNodeA.children).to.be.empty
+    // leaf nodes contain only entries
+    expect(contextNodeA.entries).to.eql(expectedEntries)
+
+    const contextNodeB = parentContextNode.children["b"]
+    expect(contextNodeB.key).to.eql(contextB)
+    // leaf nodes do not contain any children
+    expect(contextNodeB.children).to.be.empty
+    // leaf nodes contain only entries
+    expect(contextNodeB.entries).to.eql(expectedEntries)
+  })
+
+  describe("getByContext", () => {
+    it("should NOT return anything for incomplete (partial) context", () => {
+      const key = ["my-key"]
+      const value = "my-value"
+      const parentContext = ["context"]
+      const contextA = [...parentContext, "a"]
+      const contextB = [...parentContext, "b"]
+
+      cache.set(log, key, value, contextA, contextB)
+
+      // parent context references a "non-leaf" node that never contains any entries
+      expect(mapToPairs(cache.getByContext(parentContext))).to.eql([])
+    })
+  })
+
   describe("set", () => {
     it("should accept multiple contexts", () => {
       const key = ["my-key"]