diff --git a/packages/block-library/src/navigation/index.php b/packages/block-library/src/navigation/index.php
index dcb98180b2a2c..20ac4a673b3f9 100644
--- a/packages/block-library/src/navigation/index.php
+++ b/packages/block-library/src/navigation/index.php
@@ -411,21 +411,22 @@ function( $block ) {
 }
 
 /**
- * Bail on rendering nested navigation blocks
+ * Returns true if the navigation block contains a nested navigation block.
  *
  * @param array $parsed_blocks the parsed blocks to be normalized.
- * @return array the normalized parsed blocks.
+ * @return bool true if the navigation block contains a nested navigation block.
  */
 function block_core_navigation_has_nested_core_navigation( $parsed_blocks ) {
-	$filtered = array_filter(
-		$parsed_blocks,
-		function( $block ) {
-			return $block['blockName'] === 'core/navigation';
+	foreach ( $parsed_blocks as $block ) {
+		if ( 'core/navigation' === $block['blockName'] ) {
+			return true;
 		}
-	);
+		if ( block_core_navigation_has_nested_core_navigation( $block['innerBlocks'] ) ) {
+			return true;
+		}
+	}
 
-	// Reset keys.
-	return count( $filtered ) > 0;
+	return false;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/phpunit/blocks/render-block-navigation-test.php b/phpunit/blocks/render-block-navigation-test.php
index e2eab4b72ca31..ffe4bf974e298 100644
--- a/phpunit/blocks/render-block-navigation-test.php
+++ b/phpunit/blocks/render-block-navigation-test.php
@@ -65,5 +65,22 @@ public function test_block_core_navigation_get_post_ids_from_block_with_submenu(
 		$this->assertSameSetsWithIndex( array( 755, 789 ), $post_ids );
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @covers ::gutenberg_block_core_navigation_has_nested_core_navigation
+	 */
+	public function test_gutenberg_block_core_navigation_has_nested_core_navigation() {
+		$parsed_blocks = parse_blocks( '<!-- wp:navigation /-->' );
+		$this->assertTrue( gutenberg_block_core_navigation_has_nested_core_navigation( $parsed_blocks ) );
+	}
+
+	public function test_gutenberg_block_core_navigation_has_nested_core_navigation_deep() {
+		$parsed_blocks = parse_blocks( '<!-- wp:group --><!-- /wp:group --><!-- wp:group --><!-- wp:group --><!-- wp:navigation /--><!-- /wp:group --><!-- /wp:group -->' );
+		$this->assertTrue( gutenberg_block_core_navigation_has_nested_core_navigation( $parsed_blocks ) );
+	}
+
+	public function test_gutenberg_block_core_navigation_has_nested_core_navigation_no_navigation() {
+		$parsed_blocks = parse_blocks( '<!-- wp:group --><!-- wp:group --><!-- /wp:group --><!-- /wp:group -->' );
+		$this->assertFalse( gutenberg_block_core_navigation_has_nested_core_navigation( $parsed_blocks ) );
+	}
 
 }