diff --git a/src/core/thread/mle.cpp b/src/core/thread/mle.cpp
index 7eab96470..bae5618f2 100644
--- a/src/core/thread/mle.cpp
+++ b/src/core/thread/mle.cpp
@@ -2839,12 +2839,6 @@ otError Mle::HandleLeaderData(const Message &aMessage, const Ip6::MessageInfo &a
     {
         if (IsChild())
         {
-#if OPENTHREAD_FTD
-            // An FTD skips handling LeaderData of a different partition.
-            VerifyOrExit(!IsFullThreadDevice() || (leaderData.GetPartitionId() == mLeaderData.GetPartitionId() &&
-                                                   leaderData.GetLeaderRouterId() == GetLeaderId()),
-                         error = OT_ERROR_DROP);
-#endif
             SetLeaderData(leaderData.GetPartitionId(), leaderData.GetWeighting(), leaderData.GetLeaderRouterId());
             mRetrieveNewNetworkData = true;
         }