diff --git a/modules/backend/behaviors/RelationController.php b/modules/backend/behaviors/RelationController.php
index c171ee4e79..ae095fc8fd 100644
--- a/modules/backend/behaviors/RelationController.php
+++ b/modules/backend/behaviors/RelationController.php
@@ -536,8 +536,13 @@ protected function isNestedField()
      *  a) AMBIENT - the nesting stack is non-empty, meaning a manage
      *     form is actively rendering right now (see
      *     relationMakePartial()) and this field is nested directly
-     *     under whatever's on top of it. $model is trusted as-is - it's
-     *     the widget's own bound model.
+     *     under whatever's on top of it. $model canNOT be trusted
+     *     here: initRelation() is reached as
+     *     relationRender() -> validateField() -> initRelation($this->model),
+     *     and $this->model is the record of the ENCLOSING relation,
+     *     not of the manage form actually rendering. Those coincide at
+     *     one level of nesting and diverge at two, so the parent is
+     *     walked from the root exactly as in (b).
      *  b) RECONSTRUCTED - $field is already a bracket path (e.g.
      *     "items[5][taxes]"), walked from the root to find the actual
      *     model. This is the common case for anything other than an
@@ -574,7 +579,9 @@ protected function resolveNestedContext($model, $field)
 
         if ($ambientPath !== null) {
             $this->nestedField = $ambientPath . '[' . $field . ']';
-            return [$model, $field, true];
+            [$hops] = $this->parseBracketField($this->nestedField);
+
+            return [$this->resolveModelForHops($this->rootModel, $hops), $field, true];
         }
 
         if (strpos($field, '[') !== false) {
diff --git a/modules/backend/tests/behaviors/RelationControllerNestedTest.php b/modules/backend/tests/behaviors/RelationControllerNestedTest.php
index 880f34bd8a..4feea5b362 100644
--- a/modules/backend/tests/behaviors/RelationControllerNestedTest.php
+++ b/modules/backend/tests/behaviors/RelationControllerNestedTest.php
@@ -918,6 +918,57 @@ public function testAmbientFieldDistinguishesBetweenSiblingItems()
         $this->assertNotEquals($nestedFieldForA, $nestedFieldForB, 'Two sibling items\' ambient contexts must resolve to distinct qualified fields');
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Two levels of ambient nesting - an Item's manage form rendering
+     * a sub-item's manage form, which itself renders a relation field.
+     *
+     * The model RelationManager hands initRelation() is always
+     * $this->model, i.e. the record of the ENCLOSING relation. At one
+     * level of nesting that IS the parent, so trusting it works. At
+     * two it is the grandparent, and trusting it resolves the leaf
+     * relation against the wrong ancestor - in the real world a
+     * BadMethodCallException, since the grandparent's class usually
+     * has no such relation at all.
+     */
+    public function testAmbientFieldTwoLevelsDeepResolvesInnermostAncestorNotEnclosingRecord()
+    {
+        $order = RelationTestOrder::create(['name' => 'Order 1']);
+        $itemA = RelationTestItem::create(['order_id' => $order->id, 'name' => 'Item A']);
+        $subItem = RelationTestItem::create(['parent_item_id' => $itemA->id, 'name' => 'Sub A1']);
+
+        $controller = $this->makeController($order);
+        $behavior = $controller->asExtension(RelationController::class);
+        $controller->initRelation($order, 'items');
+
+        // Item A's manage form is rendering; its sub-items field
+        // resolves ambiently against it.
+        $this->pushNestingStack($behavior, "items[{$itemA->id}]");
+        $controller->initRelation($itemA, 'items');
+
+        // The sub-item's own manage form is now rendering INSIDE Item
+        // A's, and a relation field within it resolves ambiently.
+        $this->pushNestingStack($behavior, "items[{$itemA->id}][items][{$subItem->id}]");
+
+        // Item A, not the sub-item: exactly what
+        // validateField() -> initRelation($this->model) passes here.
+        $controller->initRelation($itemA, 'taxes');
+
+        $this->popNestingStack($behavior);
+        $this->popNestingStack($behavior);
+
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            "items[{$itemA->id}][items][{$subItem->id}][taxes]",
+            $this->readProtectedProperty($behavior, 'nestedField'),
+            'Two levels of ambient nesting should qualify the field against the whole stack path'
+        );
+
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            $subItem->id,
+            $this->readProtectedProperty($behavior, 'model')->id,
+            'A field nested two levels deep must resolve against the innermost ancestor, not the enclosing record'
+        );
+    }
+
     /**
      * Narrower test for relationMakePartial() specifically - confirms
      * it actually pushes before rendering and pops after, regardless