diff --git a/service/history/historyEngine.go b/service/history/historyEngine.go
index d0061918f36..d0407530420 100644
--- a/service/history/historyEngine.go
+++ b/service/history/historyEngine.go
@@ -1212,11 +1212,22 @@ func (e *historyEngineImpl) queryDirectlyThroughMatching(
 	sw := scope.StartTimer(metrics.DirectQueryDispatchLatency)
 	defer sw.Stop()
 
+	// Sticky task list is not very useful in the standby cluster because the decider cache is
+	// not updated by dispatching tasks to it (it is only updated in the case of query).
+	// Additionally on the standby side we are not even able to clear sticky.
+	// Stickiness might be outdated if the customer did a restart of their nodes causing a query
+	// dispatched on the standby side on sticky to hang. We decided it made sense to simply not attempt
+	// query on sticky task list at all on the passive side.
+	de, err := e.shard.GetDomainCache().GetDomainByID(domainID)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	supportsStickyQuery := e.clientChecker.SupportsStickyQuery(msResp.GetClientImpl(), msResp.GetClientFeatureVersion()) == nil
 	if msResp.GetIsStickyTaskListEnabled() &&
 		len(msResp.GetStickyTaskList().GetName()) != 0 &&
 		supportsStickyQuery &&
-		e.config.EnableStickyQuery(queryRequest.GetDomain()) {
+		e.config.EnableStickyQuery(queryRequest.GetDomain()) &&
+		de.IsDomainActive() {
 
 		stickyMatchingRequest := &m.QueryWorkflowRequest{
 			DomainUUID:   common.StringPtr(domainID),