diff --git a/src/View/Antlers/Language/Runtime/NodeProcessor.php b/src/View/Antlers/Language/Runtime/NodeProcessor.php
index b134341c7fb..6e0e677aff7 100644
--- a/src/View/Antlers/Language/Runtime/NodeProcessor.php
+++ b/src/View/Antlers/Language/Runtime/NodeProcessor.php
@@ -2557,7 +2557,10 @@ private function evaluatePhpBuffer(string $___phpBuffer, bool $___processAssignm
                 $___antlersVarAfter = get_defined_vars();
 
                 foreach ($___antlersVarAfter as $___varKey => $___varValue) {
-                    if (str_starts_with($___varKey, '___')) {
+                    if (
+                        str_starts_with($___varKey, '___') ||
+                        (isset($___antlersVarBefore[$___varKey]) && $___antlersVarBefore[$___varKey] === $___varValue)
+                    ) {
                         continue;
                     }
 
diff --git a/tests/Antlers/Runtime/ParserIsolationTest.php b/tests/Antlers/Runtime/ParserIsolationTest.php
index 90b5c162120..3025b456c4f 100644
--- a/tests/Antlers/Runtime/ParserIsolationTest.php
+++ b/tests/Antlers/Runtime/ParserIsolationTest.php
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 namespace Tests\Antlers\Runtime;
 
 use Facades\Tests\Factories\EntryFactory;
+use Illuminate\Support\Str;
 use Statamic\Facades\Collection;
 use Statamic\Facades\Nav;
 use Statamic\Facades\Taxonomy;
@@ -274,4 +275,47 @@ public function test_escaped_braces_in_concurrent_requests()
         $this->assertSame($expectedOne, $contentOne);
         $this->assertSame($expectedTwo, $contentTwo);
     }
+
+    public function test_php_nodes_dont_overwrite_parent_scope_needlessly()
+    {
+        $this->createBlueprintsAndData();
+        $this->withFakeViews();
+
+        $layout = <<<'EOT'
+{{ template_content }}
+Layout: {{ title }}
+EOT;
+
+        $template = <<<'EOT'
+{{?
+    $loop_data = [
+        [
+            'title' => 'A different title',
+        ],
+    ];
+?}}
+
+Before: {{ title }}
+{{ collection:news }}
+    {{ collection:news }}
+        {{ loop_data }}
+            {{? /* */ ?}}
+        {{ /loop_data }}
+    {{ /collection:news }}
+{{ /collection:news }}
+After: {{ title }}
+EOT;
+
+        $this->viewShouldReturnRaw('layout', $layout);
+        $this->viewShouldReturnRaw('default', $template);
+
+        $result = $this->get('bravo/news-2')
+            ->assertOk()
+            ->content();
+
+        $this->assertSame(
+            'Before: News 2 After: News 2 Layout: News 2',
+            Str::squish($result)
+        );
+    }
 }