diff --git a/server/channels/api4/channel.go b/server/channels/api4/channel.go
index b1202c5f7b..454969cee9 100644
--- a/server/channels/api4/channel.go
+++ b/server/channels/api4/channel.go
@@ -1972,16 +1972,15 @@ func addChannelMember(c *Context, w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 				lastError = err
 				continue
 			}
-		} else {
-			// user is already a member, go to next
-			c.Logger.Warn("User is already a channel member, skipping", mlog.String("UserId", userId), mlog.String("ChannelId", channel.Id))
-			newChannelMembers = append(newChannelMembers, *existingMember)
-			continue
 		}
 
 		if channel.Type == model.ChannelTypeOpen {
 			isSelfAdd := member.UserId == c.AppContext.Session().UserId
-			if isSelfAdd && !canAddSelf {
+			if isSelfAdd && existingMember != nil {
+				// users should be able to add themselves if they're already a member, even if they don't have permissions
+				newChannelMembers = append(newChannelMembers, *existingMember)
+				continue
+			} else if isSelfAdd && !canAddSelf {
 				c.Logger.Warn("Error adding channel member, Invalid Permission to add self", mlog.String("UserId", userId), mlog.String("ChannelId", channel.Id))
 				c.SetPermissionError(model.PermissionJoinPublicChannels)
 				lastError = c.Err
@@ -1994,6 +1993,13 @@ func addChannelMember(c *Context, w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 			}
 		}
 
+		if existingMember != nil {
+			// user is already a member, go to next
+			c.Logger.Warn("User is already a channel member, skipping", mlog.String("UserId", userId), mlog.String("ChannelId", channel.Id))
+			newChannelMembers = append(newChannelMembers, *existingMember)
+			continue
+		}
+
 		cm, err := c.App.AddChannelMember(c.AppContext, member.UserId, channel, app.ChannelMemberOpts{
 			UserRequestorID: c.AppContext.Session().UserId,
 			PostRootID:      postRootId,
diff --git a/server/channels/api4/channel_test.go b/server/channels/api4/channel_test.go
index 87faa43a6e..4ac462aae9 100644
--- a/server/channels/api4/channel_test.go
+++ b/server/channels/api4/channel_test.go
@@ -4481,6 +4481,37 @@ func TestAddChannelMember(t *testing.T) {
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
+	t.Run("requester is not a member of the team and tries to add a user to a channel where it is already a member", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// Create two teams using SystemAdminClient
+		t1 := th.CreateTeamWithClient(th.SystemAdminClient)
+		t2 := th.CreateTeamWithClient(th.SystemAdminClient)
+
+		// Use existing users - user will be BasicUser, user2 will be BasicUser2
+		u1 := th.BasicUser
+		u2 := th.BasicUser2
+
+		// Add user1 to team1 and user2 to team2 (they're already on BasicTeam)
+		th.LinkUserToTeam(u1, t1)
+		th.LinkUserToTeam(u2, t2)
+
+		// Create a public channel in team1
+		pubChannel := th.CreateChannelWithClientAndTeam(th.SystemAdminClient, model.ChannelTypeOpen, t1.Id)
+
+		// Add user1 to the public channel
+		th.AddUserToChannel(u1, pubChannel)
+
+		// Create client for user2
+		client2 := th.CreateClient()
+		_, _, err := client2.Login(context.Background(), u2.Email, u2.Password)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		// Try to add user1 to the public channel using user2's credentials
+		// This should fail with 403 since user2 is not a member of the team
+		_, resp, err := client2.AddChannelMember(context.Background(), pubChannel.Id, u1.Id)
+		CheckForbiddenStatus(t, resp)
+		require.Error(t, err)
+	})
+
 	t.Run("invalid request data", func(t *testing.T) {
 		th.TestForSystemAdminAndLocal(t, func(t *testing.T, client *model.Client4) {
 			// correct type for user ids (string) but invalid value.