diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/integration/kafka/zk/ZkMigrationIntegrationTest.scala b/core/src/test/scala/integration/kafka/zk/ZkMigrationIntegrationTest.scala
index e8e72400d4823..9e1026a5a171f 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/integration/kafka/zk/ZkMigrationIntegrationTest.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/integration/kafka/zk/ZkMigrationIntegrationTest.scala
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ package kafka.zk
 
 import kafka.security.authorizer.AclEntry.{WildcardHost, WildcardPrincipalString}
 import kafka.server.{ConfigType, KafkaConfig}
-import kafka.test.ClusterInstance
-import kafka.test.annotation.{AutoStart, ClusterConfigProperty, ClusterTest, Type}
+import kafka.test.{ClusterConfig, ClusterGenerator, ClusterInstance}
+import kafka.test.annotation.{AutoStart, ClusterConfigProperty, ClusterTemplate, ClusterTest, Type}
 import kafka.test.junit.ClusterTestExtensions
 import kafka.test.junit.ZkClusterInvocationContext.ZkClusterInstance
 import kafka.testkit.{KafkaClusterTestKit, TestKitNodes}
@@ -55,6 +55,26 @@ import java.util.{Properties, UUID}
 import scala.collection.Seq
 import scala.jdk.CollectionConverters._
 
+object ZkMigrationIntegrationTest {
+  def addZkBrokerProps(props: Properties): Unit = {
+    props.setProperty("inter.broker.listener.name", "EXTERNAL")
+    props.setProperty("listeners", "PLAINTEXT://localhost:0,EXTERNAL://localhost:0")
+    props.setProperty("advertised.listeners", "PLAINTEXT://localhost:0,EXTERNAL://localhost:0")
+    props.setProperty("listener.security.protocol.map", "EXTERNAL:PLAINTEXT,PLAINTEXT:PLAINTEXT")
+  }
+
+  def zkClustersForAllMigrationVersions(clusterGenerator: ClusterGenerator): Unit = {
+    Seq(MetadataVersion.IBP_3_4_IV0, MetadataVersion.IBP_3_5_IV2, MetadataVersion.IBP_3_6_IV2).foreach { mv =>
+      val clusterConfig = ClusterConfig.defaultClusterBuilder()
+        .metadataVersion(mv)
+        .brokers(3)
+        .`type`(Type.ZK)
+        .build()
+      addZkBrokerProps(clusterConfig.serverProperties())
+      clusterGenerator.accept(clusterConfig)
+    }
+  }
+}
 
 @ExtendWith(value = Array(classOf[ClusterTestExtensions]))
 @Timeout(300)
@@ -308,12 +328,7 @@ class ZkMigrationIntegrationTest {
   }
 
   // SCRAM and Quota are intermixed. Test Quota Only here
-  @ClusterTest(clusterType = Type.ZK, brokers = 3, metadataVersion = MetadataVersion.IBP_3_4_IV0, serverProperties = Array(
-    new ClusterConfigProperty(key = "inter.broker.listener.name", value = "EXTERNAL"),
-    new ClusterConfigProperty(key = "listeners", value = "PLAINTEXT://localhost:0,EXTERNAL://localhost:0"),
-    new ClusterConfigProperty(key = "advertised.listeners", value = "PLAINTEXT://localhost:0,EXTERNAL://localhost:0"),
-    new ClusterConfigProperty(key = "listener.security.protocol.map", value = "EXTERNAL:PLAINTEXT,PLAINTEXT:PLAINTEXT"),
-  ))
+  @ClusterTemplate("zkClustersForAllMigrationVersions")
   def testDualWrite(zkCluster: ClusterInstance): Unit = {
     // Create a topic in ZK mode
     var admin = zkCluster.createAdminClient()
@@ -334,7 +349,7 @@ class ZkMigrationIntegrationTest {
     val clusterId = zkCluster.clusterId()
     val kraftCluster = new KafkaClusterTestKit.Builder(
       new TestKitNodes.Builder().
-        setBootstrapMetadataVersion(MetadataVersion.IBP_3_4_IV0).
+        setBootstrapMetadataVersion(zkCluster.config().metadataVersion()).
         setClusterId(Uuid.fromString(clusterId)).
         setNumBrokerNodes(0).
         setNumControllerNodes(1).build())
diff --git a/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/QuorumController.java b/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/QuorumController.java
index 4777614e33671..5b437cec754ac 100644
--- a/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/QuorumController.java
+++ b/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/QuorumController.java
@@ -151,7 +151,6 @@
 import static java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit.MICROSECONDS;
 import static java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS;
 import static org.apache.kafka.controller.QuorumController.ControllerOperationFlag.DOES_NOT_UPDATE_QUEUE_TIME;
-import static org.apache.kafka.controller.QuorumController.ControllerOperationFlag.COMPLETES_IN_TRANSACTION;
 import static org.apache.kafka.controller.QuorumController.ControllerOperationFlag.RUNS_IN_PREMIGRATION;
 
 
@@ -684,21 +683,16 @@ enum ControllerOperationFlag {
          * Operations without this flag will always return NOT_CONTROLLER when invoked in premigration
          * mode.
          * <p>
-         * In pre-migration mode, we are still waiting to load the metadata from Apache
-         * ZooKeeper into the metadata log. Therefore, the metadata log is mostly empty,
-         * even though the cluster really does have metadata. Very few operations should
-         * use this flag.
-         */
-        RUNS_IN_PREMIGRATION,
-
-        /**
-         * This flag signifies that an event will be completed even if it is part of an unfinished transaction.
-         * This is needed for metadata transactions so that external callers can add records to a transaction
-         * and still use the returned future. One example usage of this flag is the batches of migrations records.
-         * The migration driver needs to wait on each submitted batch to avoid overwhelming the controller queue
-         * with events, so it needs events to be completed based on the committed (i.e., not stable) offset.
+         * In pre-migration mode, we are still waiting to load the metadata from Apache ZooKeeper into
+         * the metadata log. Therefore, the metadata log is mostly empty, even though the cluster really
+         * does have metadata
+         * <p>
+         * Events using this flag will be completed even if a transaction is ongoing. Pre-migration
+         * events will be completed using the unstable (committed) offset rather than the stable offset.
+         * <p>
+         * In practice, very few operations should use this flag.
          */
-        COMPLETES_IN_TRANSACTION
+        RUNS_IN_PREMIGRATION
     }
 
     interface ControllerWriteOperation<T> {
@@ -779,7 +773,14 @@ public void run() throws Exception {
                 // If the operation did not return any records, then it was actually just
                 // a read after all, and not a read + write.  However, this read was done
                 // from the latest in-memory state, which might contain uncommitted data.
-                OptionalLong maybeOffset = deferredEventQueue.highestPendingOffset();
+                // If the operation can complete within a transaction, let it use the
+                // unstable purgatory so that it can complete sooner.
+                OptionalLong maybeOffset;
+                if (featureControl.inPreMigrationMode() && flags.contains(RUNS_IN_PREMIGRATION)) {
+                    maybeOffset = deferredUnstableEventQueue.highestPendingOffset();
+                } else {
+                    maybeOffset = deferredEventQueue.highestPendingOffset();
+                }
                 if (!maybeOffset.isPresent()) {
                     // If the purgatory is empty, there are no pending operations and no
                     // uncommitted state.  We can complete immediately.
@@ -841,7 +842,7 @@ public Long apply(List<ApiMessageAndVersion> records) {
 
             // Remember the latest offset and future if it is not already completed
             if (!future.isDone()) {
-                if (flags.contains(COMPLETES_IN_TRANSACTION)) {
+                if (featureControl.inPreMigrationMode() && flags.contains(RUNS_IN_PREMIGRATION)) {
                     deferredUnstableEventQueue.add(resultAndOffset.offset(), this);
                 } else {
                     deferredEventQueue.add(resultAndOffset.offset(), this);
@@ -961,9 +962,7 @@ <T> CompletableFuture<T> appendWriteEvent(
     }
 
     class MigrationRecordConsumer implements ZkRecordConsumer {
-        private final EnumSet<ControllerOperationFlag> eventFlags = EnumSet.of(
-            RUNS_IN_PREMIGRATION, COMPLETES_IN_TRANSACTION
-        );
+        private final EnumSet<ControllerOperationFlag> eventFlags = EnumSet.of(RUNS_IN_PREMIGRATION);
 
         private volatile OffsetAndEpoch highestMigrationRecordOffset;
 
@@ -1313,7 +1312,7 @@ private void rescheduleMaybeFenceStaleBrokers() {
                 rescheduleMaybeFenceStaleBrokers();
                 return result;
             },
-            EnumSet.of(DOES_NOT_UPDATE_QUEUE_TIME, RUNS_IN_PREMIGRATION));
+            EnumSet.of(DOES_NOT_UPDATE_QUEUE_TIME));
     }
 
     private void cancelMaybeFenceReplicas() {
diff --git a/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/metadata/migration/KRaftMigrationDriver.java b/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/metadata/migration/KRaftMigrationDriver.java
index 09516fd5c11a9..aa60390cc06d4 100644
--- a/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/metadata/migration/KRaftMigrationDriver.java
+++ b/metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/metadata/migration/KRaftMigrationDriver.java
@@ -688,7 +688,7 @@ public void run() throws Exception {
                 transitionTo(MigrationDriverState.SYNC_KRAFT_TO_ZK);
             } catch (Throwable t) {
                 MigrationManifest partialManifest = manifestBuilder.build();
-                log.error("Aborting the metadata migration from ZooKeeper to KRaft. {}.", partialManifest);
+                log.error("Aborting the metadata migration from ZooKeeper to KRaft. {}.", partialManifest, t);
                 zkRecordConsumer.abortMigration(); // This terminates the controller via fatal fault handler
                 super.handleException(t);
             }
diff --git a/metadata/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/QuorumControllerTest.java b/metadata/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/QuorumControllerTest.java
index 1616328fb9caa..3a70312ca1c7a 100644
--- a/metadata/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/QuorumControllerTest.java
+++ b/metadata/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/controller/QuorumControllerTest.java
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Timeout;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.EnumSource;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.ValueSource;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -1491,6 +1492,7 @@ public void testActivationRecordsPartialTransactionNoSupport() {
                 setAddingReplicas(Collections.emptyList()).setLeader(1).setLeaderEpoch(0).
                 setPartitionEpoch(0), (short) 0)
             ));
+
     @Test
     public void testFailoverDuringMigrationTransaction() throws Exception {
         try (
@@ -1534,4 +1536,62 @@ public void testFailoverDuringMigrationTransaction() throws Exception {
 
         }
     }
+
+    @ParameterizedTest
+    @EnumSource(value = MetadataVersion.class, names = {"IBP_3_4_IV0", "IBP_3_5_IV0", "IBP_3_6_IV0", "IBP_3_6_IV1"})
+    public void testBrokerHeartbeatDuringMigration(MetadataVersion metadataVersion) throws Exception {
+        try (
+            LocalLogManagerTestEnv logEnv = new LocalLogManagerTestEnv.Builder(1).build();
+        ) {
+            QuorumControllerTestEnv.Builder controlEnvBuilder = new QuorumControllerTestEnv.Builder(logEnv).
+                setControllerBuilderInitializer(controllerBuilder ->
+                    controllerBuilder
+                        .setZkMigrationEnabled(true)
+                        .setMaxIdleIntervalNs(OptionalLong.of(TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toNanos(100)))
+                ).
+                setBootstrapMetadata(BootstrapMetadata.fromVersion(metadataVersion, "test"));
+            QuorumControllerTestEnv controlEnv = controlEnvBuilder.build();
+            QuorumController active = controlEnv.activeController(true);
+
+            // Register a ZK broker
+            BrokerRegistrationReply reply = active.registerBroker(ANONYMOUS_CONTEXT,
+                new BrokerRegistrationRequestData().
+                    setBrokerId(0).
+                    setRack(null).
+                    setClusterId(active.clusterId()).
+                    setIsMigratingZkBroker(true).
+                    setFeatures(brokerFeatures(metadataVersion, metadataVersion)).
+                    setIncarnationId(Uuid.fromString("kxAT73dKQsitIedpiPtwB0")).
+                    setListeners(new ListenerCollection(Arrays.asList(new Listener().
+                        setName("PLAINTEXT").setHost("localhost").
+                        setPort(9092)).iterator()))).get();
+
+            // Start migration
+            ZkRecordConsumer migrationConsumer = active.zkRecordConsumer();
+            migrationConsumer.beginMigration().get(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+
+            // Interleave migration batches with heartbeats. Ensure the heartbeat events use the correct
+            // offset when adding to the purgatory. Otherwise, we get errors like:
+            //   There is already a deferred event with offset 292. We should not add one with an offset of 241 which is lower than that.
+            for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
+                Uuid topicId = Uuid.randomUuid();
+                String topicName = "testBrokerHeartbeatDuringMigration" + i;
+                Future<?> migrationFuture = migrationConsumer.acceptBatch(
+                    Arrays.asList(
+                        new ApiMessageAndVersion(new TopicRecord().setTopicId(topicId).setName(topicName), (short) 0),
+                        new ApiMessageAndVersion(new PartitionRecord().setTopicId(topicId).setPartitionId(0).setIsr(Arrays.asList(0, 1, 2)), (short) 0)));
+                active.processBrokerHeartbeat(ANONYMOUS_CONTEXT, new BrokerHeartbeatRequestData().
+                        setWantFence(false).setBrokerEpoch(reply.epoch()).setBrokerId(0).
+                        setCurrentMetadataOffset(100000L + i));
+                migrationFuture.get();
+            }
+
+            // Ensure that we can complete a heartbeat even though we leave migration transaction hanging
+            assertEquals(new BrokerHeartbeatReply(true, false, false, false),
+                active.processBrokerHeartbeat(ANONYMOUS_CONTEXT, new BrokerHeartbeatRequestData().
+                    setWantFence(false).setBrokerEpoch(reply.epoch()).setBrokerId(0).
+                    setCurrentMetadataOffset(100100L)).get());
+
+        }
+    }
 }