diff --git a/docs/changelog/CHANGELOG.md b/docs/changelog/CHANGELOG.md
index 8442b4419..cf2ddd012 100644
--- a/docs/changelog/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/docs/changelog/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ See also [LTS releases](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/lts-releases/).
 
 * BUGFIX: [vmgateway](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/vmgateway/): fix possible panic during parsing of a token without `vm_access` claim. This issue was introduced in v1.104.0.
 * BUGFIX: [vmui](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/#vmui): fix error messages rendering from overflowing the screen with long messages. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/7207).
+* BUGFIX: `vmselect` in [VictoriaMetrics cluster](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/cluster-victoriametrics/): properly process response in [multi-level cluster setup](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/cluster-victoriametrics/#multi-level-cluster-setup). Before, vmselect could return no data in multi-level setup. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/7270) for details. The issue was introduced in [v1.104.0](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/changelog/#v11040).
 
 ## [v1.104.0](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/releases/tag/v1.104.0)
 
diff --git a/lib/storage/search.go b/lib/storage/search.go
index 1e8de9976..b24940ad4 100644
--- a/lib/storage/search.go
+++ b/lib/storage/search.go
@@ -277,6 +277,11 @@ type SearchQuery struct {
 	AccountID uint32
 	ProjectID uint32
 
+	// TenantTokens and IsMultiTenant is artificial fields
+	// they're only exist at runtime and cannot be transferred
+	// via network calls for keeping communication protocol compatibility
+	// TODO:@f41gh7 introduce breaking change to the protocol later
+	// and use TenantTokens instead of AccountID and ProjectID
 	TenantTokens  []TenantToken
 	IsMultiTenant bool
 
@@ -505,6 +510,7 @@ func (sq *SearchQuery) Unmarshal(src []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 	sq.ProjectID = encoding.UnmarshalUint32(src)
 	src = src[4:]
 
+	sq.TenantTokens = []TenantToken{{AccountID: sq.AccountID, ProjectID: sq.ProjectID}}
 	minTs, nSize := encoding.UnmarshalVarInt64(src)
 	if nSize <= 0 {
 		return src, fmt.Errorf("cannot unmarshal MinTimestamp from varint")