diff --git a/src/backend/rewrite/rewriteManip.c b/src/backend/rewrite/rewriteManip.c
index 3653f00d383..7011275f8c6 100644
--- a/src/backend/rewrite/rewriteManip.c
+++ b/src/backend/rewrite/rewriteManip.c
@@ -536,7 +536,9 @@ OffsetVarNodes(Node *node, int offset, int sublevels_up)
  * Also, new_index can be INVALID_VAR to indicate that we are deleting the
  * given relid from the tree.  In this case we expect to find rt_index only
  * in Relids fields (varnullingrels, phnullingrels, phrels), never in any
- * field that identifies a single relation.
+ * field that identifies a single relation.  The exception is varnosyn,
+ * which may name an aliased join being removed; the join's RTE remains in
+ * the rangetable, so we leave such syntactic references unchanged.
  *
  * NOTE: although this has the form of a walker, we cheat and modify the
  * nodes in-place.  The given expression tree should have been copied
@@ -569,11 +571,10 @@ ChangeVarNodes_walker(Node *node, ChangeVarNodes_context *context)
 			var->varnullingrels = adjust_relid_set(var->varnullingrels,
 												   context->rt_index,
 												   context->new_index);
-			if (var->varnosyn == context->rt_index)
-			{
-				Assert(context->new_index != INVALID_VAR);
+			/* when deleting, leave syntactic refs to a removed join alone */
+			if (var->varnosyn == context->rt_index &&
+				context->new_index != INVALID_VAR)
 				var->varnosyn = context->new_index;
-			}
 		}
 		return false;
 	}
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/join.out b/src/test/regress/expected/join.out
index 494ad20fef9..94e158d0dc6 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/join.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/join.out
@@ -7855,6 +7855,18 @@ select c.id, ss.a from c
          ->  Seq Scan on c
 (7 rows)
 
+-- check join removal when Vars reference the removed join via its alias
+explain (verbose, costs off)
+select j.b_id, (select j.b_id) from (a left join b on a.b_id = b.id) j;
+             QUERY PLAN             
+------------------------------------
+ Seq Scan on pg_temp.a
+   Output: a.b_id, (SubPlan expr_1)
+   SubPlan expr_1
+     ->  Result
+           Output: a.b_id
+(5 rows)
+
 -- check the case when the placeholder relates to an outer join and its
 -- inner in the press field but actually uses only the outer side of the join
 explain (costs off)
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/join.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/join.sql
index f068aec0a68..576a90dfc1b 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/join.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/join.sql
@@ -2901,6 +2901,10 @@ select c.id, ss.a from c
   left join (select d.a from onerow, d left join b on d.a = b.id) ss
   on c.id = ss.a;
 
+-- check join removal when Vars reference the removed join via its alias
+explain (verbose, costs off)
+select j.b_id, (select j.b_id) from (a left join b on a.b_id = b.id) j;
+
 -- check the case when the placeholder relates to an outer join and its
 -- inner in the press field but actually uses only the outer side of the join
 explain (costs off)