diff --git a/src/controller/CHIPDeviceController.cpp b/src/controller/CHIPDeviceController.cpp
index dd776940654462..2ae83b320839db 100644
--- a/src/controller/CHIPDeviceController.cpp
+++ b/src/controller/CHIPDeviceController.cpp
@@ -143,6 +143,8 @@ CHIP_ERROR DeviceController::Init(ControllerInitParams params)
     mSystemState = params.systemState->Retain();
     mState       = State::Initialized;
 
+    mRemoveFromFabricTableOnShutdown = params.removeFromFabricTableOnShutdown;
+
     if (GetFabricIndex() != kUndefinedFabricIndex)
     {
         ChipLogProgress(Controller,
@@ -348,10 +350,13 @@ void DeviceController::Shutdown()
         // existing sessions too?
         mSystemState->SessionMgr()->ExpireAllSessionsForFabric(mFabricIndex);
 
-        FabricTable * fabricTable = mSystemState->Fabrics();
-        if (fabricTable != nullptr)
+        if (mRemoveFromFabricTableOnShutdown)
         {
-            fabricTable->Forget(mFabricIndex);
+            FabricTable * fabricTable = mSystemState->Fabrics();
+            if (fabricTable != nullptr)
+            {
+                fabricTable->Forget(mFabricIndex);
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/controller/CHIPDeviceController.h b/src/controller/CHIPDeviceController.h
index 04c24db25a0eea..c3f6cd3ff49f41 100644
--- a/src/controller/CHIPDeviceController.h
+++ b/src/controller/CHIPDeviceController.h
@@ -128,6 +128,17 @@ struct ControllerInitParams
     //
     bool enableServerInteractions = false;
 
+    /**
+     * Controls whether shutdown of the controller removes the corresponding
+     * entry from the fabric table.  For now the removal is just from the
+     * in-memory table, not from storage, which means that after controller
+     * shutdown the storage and the in-memory fabric table will be out of sync.
+     * This is acceptable for implementations that don't actually store any of
+     * the fabric table information, but if someone wants a true removal at some
+     * point another option will need to be added here.
+     */
+    bool removeFromFabricTableOnShutdown = true;
+
     chip::VendorId controllerVendorId;
 };
 
@@ -330,6 +341,8 @@ class DLL_EXPORT DeviceController : public AbstractDnssdDiscoveryController
 
     FabricIndex mFabricIndex = kUndefinedFabricIndex;
 
+    bool mRemoveFromFabricTableOnShutdown = true;
+
     // TODO(cecille): Make this configuarable.
     static constexpr int kMaxCommissionableNodes = 10;
     Dnssd::DiscoveredNodeData mCommissionableNodes[kMaxCommissionableNodes];
diff --git a/src/controller/CHIPDeviceControllerFactory.cpp b/src/controller/CHIPDeviceControllerFactory.cpp
index 7180566e36507c..4cc20bfc3f10a7 100644
--- a/src/controller/CHIPDeviceControllerFactory.cpp
+++ b/src/controller/CHIPDeviceControllerFactory.cpp
@@ -286,6 +286,7 @@ void DeviceControllerFactory::PopulateInitParams(ControllerInitParams & controll
     controllerParams.controllerICAC                       = params.controllerICAC;
     controllerParams.controllerRCAC                       = params.controllerRCAC;
     controllerParams.permitMultiControllerFabrics         = params.permitMultiControllerFabrics;
+    controllerParams.removeFromFabricTableOnShutdown      = params.removeFromFabricTableOnShutdown;
 
     controllerParams.systemState        = mSystemState;
     controllerParams.controllerVendorId = params.controllerVendorId;
diff --git a/src/controller/CHIPDeviceControllerFactory.h b/src/controller/CHIPDeviceControllerFactory.h
index fd77c3779017a9..1fa0563b6bd8e1 100644
--- a/src/controller/CHIPDeviceControllerFactory.h
+++ b/src/controller/CHIPDeviceControllerFactory.h
@@ -90,6 +90,17 @@ struct SetupParams
     //
     bool enableServerInteractions = false;
 
+    /**
+     * Controls whether shutdown of the controller removes the corresponding
+     * entry from the fabric table.  For now the removal is just from the
+     * in-memory table, not from storage, which means that after controller
+     * shutdown the storage and the in-memory fabric table will be out of sync.
+     * This is acceptable for implementations that don't actually store any of
+     * the fabric table information, but if someone wants a true removal at some
+     * point another option will need to be added here.
+     */
+    bool removeFromFabricTableOnShutdown = true;
+
     Credentials::DeviceAttestationVerifier * deviceAttestationVerifier = nullptr;
     CommissioningDelegate * defaultCommissioner                        = nullptr;
 };
diff --git a/src/darwin/Framework/CHIP/MTRDeviceController.mm b/src/darwin/Framework/CHIP/MTRDeviceController.mm
index a436003d7605b9..2192e9bda46e81 100644
--- a/src/darwin/Framework/CHIP/MTRDeviceController.mm
+++ b/src/darwin/Framework/CHIP/MTRDeviceController.mm
@@ -336,6 +336,11 @@ - (BOOL)startup:(MTRDeviceControllerStartupParamsInternal *)startupParams
         }
         commissionerParams.controllerVendorId = static_cast<chip::VendorId>([startupParams.vendorID unsignedShortValue]);
         commissionerParams.enableServerInteractions = startupParams.advertiseOperational;
+        // We don't want to remove things from the fabric table on controller
+        // shutdown, since our controller setup depends on being able to fetch
+        // fabric information for the relevant fabric indices on controller
+        // bring-up.
+        commissionerParams.removeFromFabricTableOnShutdown = false;
         commissionerParams.deviceAttestationVerifier = _factory.deviceAttestationVerifier;
 
         auto & factory = chip::Controller::DeviceControllerFactory::GetInstance();
diff --git a/src/darwin/Framework/CHIPTests/MTRControllerTests.m b/src/darwin/Framework/CHIPTests/MTRControllerTests.m
index 06dfb7a2beb3b7..d28beef64ccb42 100644
--- a/src/darwin/Framework/CHIPTests/MTRControllerTests.m
+++ b/src/darwin/Framework/CHIPTests/MTRControllerTests.m
@@ -391,8 +391,29 @@ - (void)testControllerStartControllersOnTwoFabricIds
     XCTAssertNotNil(controller2);
     XCTAssertTrue([controller2 isRunning]);
 
+    // Verify that we can't start on an existing fabric while we have a
+    // controller on that fabric already.
     XCTAssertNil([factory createControllerOnExistingFabric:params2 error:nil]);
 
+    // Now test restarting the controller on the first fabric while the
+    // controller on the second fabric is still running.
+    [controller1 shutdown];
+    XCTAssertFalse([controller1 isRunning]);
+
+    controller1 = [factory createControllerOnExistingFabric:params1 error:nil];
+    XCTAssertNotNil(controller1);
+    XCTAssertTrue([controller1 isRunning]);
+
+    // Now test restarting the controller on the second fabric while the
+    // controller on the first fabric is still running.
+    [controller2 shutdown];
+    XCTAssertFalse([controller2 isRunning]);
+
+    controller2 = [factory createControllerOnExistingFabric:params2 error:nil];
+    XCTAssertNotNil(controller2);
+    XCTAssertTrue([controller2 isRunning]);
+
+    // Shut down everything.
     [controller1 shutdown];
     XCTAssertFalse([controller1 isRunning]);
 
diff --git a/src/darwin/Framework/CHIPTests/MTRTestStorage.h b/src/darwin/Framework/CHIPTests/MTRTestStorage.h
index ba5e386be23b8c..8e0a5d6859180a 100644
--- a/src/darwin/Framework/CHIPTests/MTRTestStorage.h
+++ b/src/darwin/Framework/CHIPTests/MTRTestStorage.h
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ NS_ASSUME_NONNULL_BEGIN
 - (nullable NSData *)storageDataForKey:(NSString *)key;
 - (BOOL)setStorageData:(NSData *)value forKey:(NSString *)key;
 - (BOOL)removeStorageDataForKey:(NSString *)key;
+- (NSString *)dumpStorageToString;
 @end
 
 NS_ASSUME_NONNULL_END
diff --git a/src/darwin/Framework/CHIPTests/MTRTestStorage.m b/src/darwin/Framework/CHIPTests/MTRTestStorage.m
index b03b3509891d39..8d80bd59d8b381 100644
--- a/src/darwin/Framework/CHIPTests/MTRTestStorage.m
+++ b/src/darwin/Framework/CHIPTests/MTRTestStorage.m
@@ -52,4 +52,9 @@ - (instancetype)init
     return self;
 }
 
+- (NSString *)dumpStorageToString
+{
+    return [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", _values];
+}
+
 @end