diff --git a/agent/consul/health_endpoint.go b/agent/consul/health_endpoint.go
index abf17adbaeb1..71cfe1f766c2 100644
--- a/agent/consul/health_endpoint.go
+++ b/agent/consul/health_endpoint.go
@@ -232,6 +232,8 @@ func (h *Health) ServiceNodes(args *structs.ServiceSpecificRequest, reply *struc
 		// TODO(acl-error-enhancements) Look for ways to percolate this information up to give any feedback to the user.
 		if authz.ServiceRead(args.ServiceName, &authzContext) != acl.Allow {
 			// Just return nil, which will return an empty response (tested)
+			// We should be careful to set the index to prevent a busy loop from triggering.
+			reply.Index = 1
 			return nil
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/agent/consul/health_endpoint_test.go b/agent/consul/health_endpoint_test.go
index 4b492081c930..1981332d86b4 100644
--- a/agent/consul/health_endpoint_test.go
+++ b/agent/consul/health_endpoint_test.go
@@ -1127,6 +1127,7 @@ node "foo" {
 	var resp structs.IndexedCheckServiceNodes
 	assert.Nil(t, msgpackrpc.CallWithCodec(codec, "Health.ServiceNodes", &req, &resp))
 	assert.Len(t, resp.Nodes, 0)
+	assert.Greater(t, resp.Index, uint64(0))
 
 	// List w/ token. This should work since we're requesting "foo", but should
 	// also only contain the proxies with names that adhere to our ACL.
diff --git a/agent/proxycfg/state_test.go b/agent/proxycfg/state_test.go
index aa11dc43f542..792367b473be 100644
--- a/agent/proxycfg/state_test.go
+++ b/agent/proxycfg/state_test.go
@@ -795,7 +795,7 @@ func TestState_WatchesAndUpdates(t *testing.T) {
 				fmt.Sprintf("upstream-target:api-failover-remote.default.default.dc2:%s-failover-remote?dc=dc2", apiUID.String()): genVerifyServiceSpecificRequest("api-failover-remote", "", "dc2", true),
 				fmt.Sprintf("upstream-target:api-failover-local.default.default.dc2:%s-failover-local?dc=dc2", apiUID.String()):   genVerifyServiceSpecificRequest("api-failover-local", "", "dc2", true),
 				fmt.Sprintf("upstream-target:api-failover-direct.default.default.dc2:%s-failover-direct?dc=dc2", apiUID.String()): genVerifyServiceSpecificRequest("api-failover-direct", "", "dc2", true),
-				upstreamPeerWatchIDPrefix + fmt.Sprintf("%s-failover-to-peer?peer=cluster-01", apiUID.String()):                   genVerifyServiceSpecificPeeredRequest("api-failover-to-peer", "", "", "cluster-01", true),
+				upstreamPeerWatchIDPrefix + fmt.Sprintf("%s-failover-to-peer?peer=cluster-01", apiUID.String()):                   genVerifyServiceSpecificPeeredRequest("api-failover-to-peer", "", "dc1", "cluster-01", true),
 				fmt.Sprintf("mesh-gateway:dc2:%s-failover-remote?dc=dc2", apiUID.String()):                                        genVerifyGatewayWatch("dc2"),
 				fmt.Sprintf("mesh-gateway:dc1:%s-failover-local?dc=dc2", apiUID.String()):                                         genVerifyGatewayWatch("dc1"),
 			},
diff --git a/agent/proxycfg/upstreams.go b/agent/proxycfg/upstreams.go
index d7fee4a3fcc1..5e42072fac32 100644
--- a/agent/proxycfg/upstreams.go
+++ b/agent/proxycfg/upstreams.go
@@ -316,8 +316,19 @@ func (s *handlerUpstreams) resetWatchesFromChain(
 			watchedChainEndpoints = true
 		}
 
-		opts := targetWatchOpts{upstreamID: uid}
-		opts.fromChainTarget(target)
+		opts := targetWatchOpts{
+			upstreamID: uid,
+			chainID:    target.ID,
+			service:    target.Service,
+			filter:     target.Subset.Filter,
+			datacenter: target.Datacenter,
+			peer:       target.Peer,
+			entMeta:    target.GetEnterpriseMetadata(),
+		}
+		// Peering targets do not set the datacenter field, so we should default it here.
+		if opts.datacenter == "" {
+			opts.datacenter = s.source.Datacenter
+		}
 
 		err := s.watchUpstreamTarget(ctx, snap, opts)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -435,15 +446,6 @@ type targetWatchOpts struct {
 	entMeta    *acl.EnterpriseMeta
 }
 
-func (o *targetWatchOpts) fromChainTarget(t *structs.DiscoveryTarget) {
-	o.chainID = t.ID
-	o.service = t.Service
-	o.filter = t.Subset.Filter
-	o.datacenter = t.Datacenter
-	o.peer = t.Peer
-	o.entMeta = t.GetEnterpriseMetadata()
-}
-
 func (s *handlerUpstreams) watchUpstreamTarget(ctx context.Context, snap *ConfigSnapshotUpstreams, opts targetWatchOpts) error {
 	s.logger.Trace("initializing watch of target",
 		"upstream", opts.upstreamID,