diff --git a/pkg/kv/kvpb/api.proto b/pkg/kv/kvpb/api.proto
index f8519150b0f2..f7292c4b617d 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/kvpb/api.proto
+++ b/pkg/kv/kvpb/api.proto
@@ -2873,9 +2873,10 @@ message Header {
   // current batch. When set, it allows the server to handle pushes and write
   // too old conditions locally.
   bool can_forward_read_timestamp = 16;
-  // gateway_node_id is the ID of the gateway node where the request originated.
-  // For requests from tenants, this is set to the NodeID of the KV node handling
-  // the BatchRequest.
+  // gateway_node_id is the ID of the gateway node where the request
+  // originated. For requests from a shared-process cluster, this is set to the
+  // NodeID of the KV node which created the BatchRequest. For requests from a
+  // separate-process SQL Pod or a CLI, this is set to 0.
   int32 gateway_node_id = 11 [(gogoproto.customname) = "GatewayNodeID",
                               (gogoproto.casttype) = "github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/roachpb.NodeID"];
   // client_range_info represents the kvclient's knowledge about the state of
diff --git a/pkg/server/node.go b/pkg/server/node.go
index 38b0605cf997..4db0a4858dca 100644
--- a/pkg/server/node.go
+++ b/pkg/server/node.go
@@ -1561,6 +1561,12 @@ func (n *Node) getLocalityComparison(
 		return roachpb.LocalityComparisonType_UNDEFINED
 	}
 
+	// In separate-process multi-tenant mode the gatewayNodeID is 0.
+	if gatewayNodeID == 0 {
+		if _, ok := roachpb.ClientTenantFromContext(ctx); ok {
+			return roachpb.LocalityComparisonType_UNDEFINED
+		}
+	}
 	gatewayNodeDesc, err := gossip.GetNodeDescriptor(gatewayNodeID)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.VInfof(ctx, 2,