diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/processor/SkipExistingDocumentsProcessorFactory.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/processor/SkipExistingDocumentsProcessorFactory.java
index a9a23f368ff..082c75765d9 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/processor/SkipExistingDocumentsProcessorFactory.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/processor/SkipExistingDocumentsProcessorFactory.java
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ boolean isSkipUpdateIfMissing() {
       return this.skipUpdateIfMissing;
     }
 
-    boolean doesDocumentExist(BytesRef indexedDocId) throws IOException {
+    boolean doesDocumentExist(BytesRef indexedDocId) {
       assert null != indexedDocId;
 
       // we don't need any fields populated, we just need to know if the doc is in the tlog...
@@ -214,6 +214,17 @@ boolean doesDocumentExist(BytesRef indexedDocId) throws IOException {
       }
     }
 
+    boolean doesChildDocumentExist(AddUpdateCommand cmd) throws IOException {
+      return RealTimeGetComponent.getInputDocument(
+          core,
+          core.getLatestSchema().indexableUniqueKey(cmd.getChildDocIdStr()),
+          cmd.getIndexedId(),
+          null,
+          null,
+          RealTimeGetComponent.Resolution.DOC
+      ) != null;
+    }
+
     boolean isLeader(UpdateCommand cmd) {
       if ((cmd.getFlags() & (UpdateCommand.REPLAY | UpdateCommand.PEER_SYNC)) != 0) {
         return false;
@@ -231,11 +242,6 @@ public void processAdd(AddUpdateCommand cmd) throws IOException {
 
       boolean isUpdate = AtomicUpdateDocumentMerger.isAtomicUpdate(cmd);
 
-      // boolean existsByLookup = (RealTimeGetComponent.getInputDocument(core, indexedDocId) != null);
-      // if (docExists != existsByLookup) {
-      //   log.error("Found docExists {} but existsByLookup {} for doc {}", docExists, existsByLookup, indexedDocId.utf8ToString());
-      // }
-
       if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
         log.debug("Document ID {} ... exists already? {} ... isAtomicUpdate? {} ... isLeader? {}",
                   indexedDocId.utf8ToString(), doesDocumentExist(indexedDocId), isUpdate, isLeader(cmd));
@@ -248,11 +254,20 @@ public void processAdd(AddUpdateCommand cmd) throws IOException {
         return;
       }
 
-      if (skipUpdateIfMissing && isUpdate && isLeader(cmd) && !doesDocumentExist(indexedDocId)) {
-        if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
-          log.debug("Skipping update to non-existent document ID {}", indexedDocId.utf8ToString());
+      if (skipUpdateIfMissing && isUpdate && isLeader(cmd)) {
+        if (!cmd.getChildDocIdStr().equals(cmd.getIndexedIdStr())) {
+          if (!doesChildDocumentExist(cmd)) {
+            if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
+              log.debug("Skipping update to non-existent child document ID {}", cmd.getChildDocIdStr());
+            }
+            return;
+          }
+        } else if (!doesDocumentExist(indexedDocId)) {
+          if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
+            log.debug("Skipping update to non-existent document ID {}", indexedDocId.utf8ToString());
+          }
+          return;
         }
-        return;
       }
 
       if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
diff --git a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/update/processor/SkipExistingDocumentsProcessorFactoryTest.java b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/update/processor/SkipExistingDocumentsProcessorFactoryTest.java
index a7c2477b600..9e8641631b6 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/update/processor/SkipExistingDocumentsProcessorFactoryTest.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/update/processor/SkipExistingDocumentsProcessorFactoryTest.java
@@ -310,6 +310,22 @@ public void testSkippableUpdateIsSkippedIfSkipUpdatesTrue() throws IOException {
     verify(next, never()).processAdd(cmd);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testSkippableChildDocUpdateIsSkippedIfSkipUpdatesTrue() throws IOException {
+    UpdateRequestProcessor next = Mockito.mock(DistributedUpdateProcessor.class);
+    SkipExistingDocumentsUpdateProcessor processor
+        = Mockito.spy(new SkipExistingDocumentsUpdateProcessor(defaultRequest, next, false, true));
+
+    AddUpdateCommand cmd = Mockito.spy(createAtomicUpdateCmd(defaultRequest));
+    doReturn(true).when(processor).isLeader(cmd);
+    doReturn(false).when(processor).doesChildDocumentExist(cmd);
+    doReturn("123/child1").when(cmd).getChildDocIdStr();
+    doReturn("123").when(cmd).getIndexedIdStr();
+
+    processor.processAdd(cmd);
+    verify(next, never()).processAdd(cmd);
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testNonSkippableUpdateIsNotSkippedIfSkipUpdatesTrue() throws IOException {
     UpdateRequestProcessor next = Mockito.mock(DistributedUpdateProcessor.class);
@@ -324,6 +340,22 @@ public void testNonSkippableUpdateIsNotSkippedIfSkipUpdatesTrue() throws IOExcep
     verify(next).processAdd(cmd);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testNonSkippableChildDocUpdateIsNotSkippedIfSkipUpdatesTrue() throws IOException {
+    UpdateRequestProcessor next = Mockito.mock(DistributedUpdateProcessor.class);
+    SkipExistingDocumentsUpdateProcessor processor
+        = Mockito.spy(new SkipExistingDocumentsUpdateProcessor(defaultRequest, next, false, true));
+
+    AddUpdateCommand cmd = Mockito.spy(createAtomicUpdateCmd(defaultRequest));
+    doReturn(true).when(processor).isLeader(cmd);
+    doReturn(true).when(processor).doesChildDocumentExist(cmd);
+    doReturn("123/child1").when(cmd).getChildDocIdStr();
+    doReturn("123").when(cmd).getIndexedIdStr();
+
+    processor.processAdd(cmd);
+    verify(next).processAdd(cmd);
+  }
+
   private AddUpdateCommand createInsertUpdateCmd(SolrQueryRequest req) {
     AddUpdateCommand cmd = new AddUpdateCommand(req);
     cmd.setIndexedId(docId);