diff --git a/services/core/java/com/android/server/wm/ActivityStarter.java b/services/core/java/com/android/server/wm/ActivityStarter.java
index 7723a469aaa92..fb87576ba809c 100644
--- a/services/core/java/com/android/server/wm/ActivityStarter.java
+++ b/services/core/java/com/android/server/wm/ActivityStarter.java
@@ -192,6 +192,7 @@ class ActivityStarter {
 
     private Task mInTask;
     private TaskFragment mInTaskFragment;
+    private TaskFragment mAddingToTaskFragment;
     @VisibleForTesting
     boolean mAddingToTask;
 
@@ -2254,20 +2255,27 @@ class ActivityStarter {
             // In this situation we want to remove all activities from the task up to the one
             // being started. In most cases this means we are resetting the task to its initial
             // state.
-            final ActivityRecord top = targetTask.performClearTop(mStartActivity, mLaunchFlags);
+            final ActivityRecord clearTop = targetTask.performClearTop(mStartActivity,
+                    mLaunchFlags);
 
-            if (top != null) {
-                if (top.isRootOfTask()) {
+            if (clearTop != null && !clearTop.finishing) {
+                if (clearTop.isRootOfTask()) {
                     // Activity aliases may mean we use different intents for the top activity,
                     // so make sure the task now has the identity of the new intent.
-                    top.getTask().setIntent(mStartActivity);
+                    clearTop.getTask().setIntent(mStartActivity);
                 }
-                deliverNewIntent(top, intentGrants);
+                deliverNewIntent(clearTop, intentGrants);
             } else {
                 // A special case: we need to start the activity because it is not currently
                 // running, and the caller has asked to clear the current task to have this
                 // activity at the top.
                 mAddingToTask = true;
+                // Adding the new activity to the same embedded TF of the clear-top activity if
+                // possible.
+                if (clearTop != null && clearTop.getTaskFragment() != null
+                        && clearTop.getTaskFragment().isEmbedded()) {
+                    mAddingToTaskFragment = clearTop.getTaskFragment();
+                }
                 if (targetTask.getRootTask() == null) {
                     // Target root task got cleared when we all activities were removed above.
                     // Go ahead and reset it.
@@ -2892,14 +2900,19 @@ class ActivityStarter {
                 newParent = mInTaskFragment;
             }
         } else {
-            final ActivityRecord top = task.topRunningActivity(false /* focusableOnly */,
-                    false /* includingEmbeddedTask */);
-            final TaskFragment taskFragment = top != null ? top.getTaskFragment() : null;
-            if (taskFragment != null && taskFragment.isEmbedded()
-                    && canEmbedActivity(taskFragment, mStartActivity, false /* newTask */, task)) {
+            TaskFragment candidateTf = mAddingToTaskFragment != null ? mAddingToTaskFragment : null;
+            if (candidateTf == null) {
+                final ActivityRecord top = task.topRunningActivity(false /* focusableOnly */,
+                        false /* includingEmbeddedTask */);
+                if (top != null) {
+                    candidateTf = top.getTaskFragment();
+                }
+            }
+            if (candidateTf != null && candidateTf.isEmbedded()
+                    && canEmbedActivity(candidateTf, mStartActivity, false /* newTask */, task)) {
                 // Use the embedded TaskFragment of the top activity as the new parent if the
                 // activity can be embedded.
-                newParent = top.getTaskFragment();
+                newParent = candidateTf;
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/services/core/java/com/android/server/wm/Task.java b/services/core/java/com/android/server/wm/Task.java
index 1bec2a5d68fa3..bf5246f2339a2 100644
--- a/services/core/java/com/android/server/wm/Task.java
+++ b/services/core/java/com/android/server/wm/Task.java
@@ -1644,7 +1644,7 @@ class Task extends TaskFragment {
      * activities on top of it and return the instance.
      *
      * @param newR Description of the new activity being started.
-     * @return Returns the old activity that should be continued to be used,
+     * @return Returns the existing activity in the task that performs the clear-top operation,
      * or {@code null} if none was found.
      */
     private ActivityRecord clearTopActivities(ActivityRecord newR, int launchFlags) {
@@ -1663,7 +1663,6 @@ class Task extends TaskFragment {
                 && !ActivityStarter.isDocumentLaunchesIntoExisting(launchFlags)) {
             if (!r.finishing) {
                 r.finishIfPossible("clear-task-top", false /* oomAdj */);
-                return null;
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/services/tests/wmtests/src/com/android/server/wm/TaskTests.java b/services/tests/wmtests/src/com/android/server/wm/TaskTests.java
index 9304761fc1c96..202168bae869a 100644
--- a/services/tests/wmtests/src/com/android/server/wm/TaskTests.java
+++ b/services/tests/wmtests/src/com/android/server/wm/TaskTests.java
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ public class TaskTests extends WindowTestsBase {
         // Detach from process so the activities can be removed from hierarchy when finishing.
         activity1.detachFromProcess();
         activity2.detachFromProcess();
-        assertNull(task.performClearTop(activity1, 0 /* launchFlags */));
+        assertTrue(task.performClearTop(activity1, 0 /* launchFlags */).finishing);
         assertFalse(task.hasChild());
         // In real case, the task should be preserved for adding new activity.
         assertTrue(task.isAttached());