Revert "Merge branch '3678-serve-stale-servfailing-unexpectedly-v9_18' into 'v9_18'"
This reverts commit 81b6f17e, reversing changes made to ea47a9c1.
It also removes release note 6038, since the fix is reverted.
There was a concern that the original fix might introduce new issues. Since we're close to a release, it was decided on the team meeting to revert the changes until we have more time to evaluate that it works as intended.
Reverts !7166 (merged)
Reopens #3678 (closed)