diff --git a/solr/CHANGES.txt b/solr/CHANGES.txt
index 24501bb00a3..fb64188b79b 100644
--- a/solr/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/solr/CHANGES.txt
@@ -226,6 +226,8 @@ Bug Fixes
 * SOLR-8748: OverseerTaskProcessor limits number of concurrent tasks to just 10 even though the thread pool
   size is 100. The limit has now been increased to 100. (Scott Blum, shalin)
 
+* SOLR-8375: ReplicaAssigner rejects valid nodes (Kelvin Tan, noble)
+
 Optimizations
 ----------------------
 * SOLR-7876: Speed up queries and operations that use many terms when timeAllowed has not been
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/rule/ReplicaAssigner.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/rule/ReplicaAssigner.java
index 51d984813a6..c9f774f7062 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/rule/ReplicaAssigner.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/cloud/rule/ReplicaAssigner.java
@@ -44,11 +44,8 @@ import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import static java.util.Collections.singletonList;
-import static org.apache.solr.cloud.rule.Rule.MatchStatus.NODE_CAN_BE_ASSIGNED;
-import static org.apache.solr.cloud.rule.Rule.Phase.ASSIGN;
-import static org.apache.solr.cloud.rule.Rule.Phase.FUZZY_ASSIGN;
-import static org.apache.solr.cloud.rule.Rule.Phase.FUZZY_VERIFY;
-import static org.apache.solr.cloud.rule.Rule.Phase.VERIFY;
+import static org.apache.solr.cloud.rule.Rule.MatchStatus.*;
+import static org.apache.solr.cloud.rule.Rule.Phase.*;
 import static org.apache.solr.common.util.StrUtils.formatString;
 import static org.apache.solr.common.util.Utils.getDeepCopy;
 
@@ -280,7 +277,7 @@ public class ReplicaAssigner {
         Rule rule = rules.get(rulePermutation[i]);
         Rule.MatchStatus matchStatus = rule.tryAssignNodeToShard(e.getValue(),
             copyOfCurrentState, nodeVsTagsCopy, e.getKey().shard, fuzzyPhase ? FUZZY_VERIFY : VERIFY);
-        if (matchStatus != NODE_CAN_BE_ASSIGNED) return null;
+        if (matchStatus != NODE_CAN_BE_ASSIGNED && matchStatus != NOT_APPLICABLE) return null;
       }
     }
     return result;
diff --git a/solr/example/files/conf/params.json b/solr/example/files/conf/params.json
index d93c1d9232f..22aadccdd07 100644
--- a/solr/example/files/conf/params.json
+++ b/solr/example/files/conf/params.json
@@ -22,9 +22,13 @@
     "debug":"true",
     "hl.simple.pre":"HL_START",
     "hl.simple.post":"HL_END",
+    "echoParams": "explicit",
+    "_appends_": {
+      "fq": "{!switch v=$type tag=type case='*:*' case.all='*:*' case.unknown='-doc_type:[* TO *]' default=$type_fq}"
+    },
     "":{"v":0}},
   "velocity":{
     "wt":"velocity",
     "v.template":"browse",
     "v.layout":"layout",
-    "":{"v":0}}}}
\ No newline at end of file
+    "":{"v":0}}}}
diff --git a/solr/example/files/conf/solrconfig.xml b/solr/example/files/conf/solrconfig.xml
index ba1d2036143..97682f62d6d 100644
--- a/solr/example/files/conf/solrconfig.xml
+++ b/solr/example/files/conf/solrconfig.xml
@@ -804,15 +804,8 @@
   </requestHandler>
 
 
-  <requestHandler name="/browse" class="solr.SearchHandler" useParams="query,facets,velocity,browse">
-    <lst name="defaults">
-      <str name="echoParams">explicit</str>
-    </lst>
-
-    <lst name="appends">
-      <str name="fq">{!switch v=$type tag=type case='*:*' case.all='*:*' case.unknown='-doc_type:[* TO *]' default=$type_fq}</str>
-    </lst>
-  </requestHandler>
+  <!--These useParams values are available in params.json-->
+  <requestHandler name="/browse" class="solr.SearchHandler" useParams="query,facets,velocity,browse"/>
 
 
   <initParams path="/update/**,/query,/select,/tvrh,/elevate,/spell,/browse">