diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_command.go b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_command.go
index 61d5de1f6570..51ff15a56b7f 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_command.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvserver/replica_command.go
@@ -1339,6 +1339,27 @@ func (r *Replica) atomicReplicationChange(
 	// this may want to detect that and retry, sending a snapshot and promoting
 	// both sides.
 
+	// Wait for our replica to catch up with the descriptor change. The replica is
+	// expected to usually be already caught up because it's expected to usually
+	// be the leaseholder - but it doesn't have to be. Being caught up is
+	// important because we might need to send snapshots below to newly-added
+	// replicas, and those snapshots would be invalid if our stale descriptor
+	// doesn't contain the respective replicas.
+	for {
+		rDesc := r.Desc()
+		if rDesc.Generation >= desc.Generation {
+			break
+		}
+		log.VEventf(ctx, 1, "stale descriptor detected; waiting to catch up to replication. want: %s, have: %s",
+			desc, rDesc)
+		// TODO(andrei): Find a better way to wait for replication. If we knew the
+		// LAI of the respective command, we could use waitForApplication().
+		time.Sleep(time.Second)
+		if _, err := r.IsDestroyed(); err != nil {
+			return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "replica destroyed while waiting desc replication")
+		}
+	}
+
 	iChgs := make([]internalReplicationChange, 0, len(chgs))
 
 	for _, target := range chgs.VoterAdditions() {
@@ -1637,6 +1658,11 @@ func prepareChangeReplicasTrigger(
 	return crt, nil
 }
 
+// execChangeReplicasTxn runs a txn updating a range descriptor. The txn commit
+// will carry a ChangeReplicasTrigger. Returns the updated descriptor. Note
+// that, if the current node does not have the leaseholder for the respective
+// range, then upon return the node's replica of the range (if any) might not
+// reflect the updated descriptor yet until it applies the transaction.
 func execChangeReplicasTxn(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	store *Store,