diff --git a/artemis-protocols/artemis-mqtt-protocol/pom.xml b/artemis-protocols/artemis-mqtt-protocol/pom.xml
index 62c575526c9..ccb22c31955 100644
--- a/artemis-protocols/artemis-mqtt-protocol/pom.xml
+++ b/artemis-protocols/artemis-mqtt-protocol/pom.xml
@@ -107,6 +107,11 @@
          <artifactId>junit-jupiter-engine</artifactId>
          <scope>test</scope>
       </dependency>
+      <dependency>
+         <groupId>org.mockito</groupId>
+         <artifactId>mockito-core</artifactId>
+         <scope>test</scope>
+      </dependency>
       <dependency>
          <groupId>org.apache.logging.log4j</groupId>
          <artifactId>log4j-slf4j2-impl</artifactId>
diff --git a/artemis-protocols/artemis-mqtt-protocol/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/protocol/mqtt/MQTTStateManager.java b/artemis-protocols/artemis-mqtt-protocol/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/protocol/mqtt/MQTTStateManager.java
index 69c21015727..99e3d2265f3 100644
--- a/artemis-protocols/artemis-mqtt-protocol/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/protocol/mqtt/MQTTStateManager.java
+++ b/artemis-protocols/artemis-mqtt-protocol/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/protocol/mqtt/MQTTStateManager.java
@@ -137,14 +137,10 @@ public void scanSessions() {
 
    public MQTTSessionState getSessionState(String clientId) throws Exception {
       // [MQTT-3.1.2-4] Attach an existing session if one exists otherwise create a new one.
-      if (sessionStates.containsKey(clientId)) {
-         return sessionStates.get(clientId);
-      } else {
-         MQTTSessionState sessionState = new MQTTSessionState(clientId);
-         logger.debug("Adding MQTT session state for: {}", clientId);
-         sessionStates.put(clientId, sessionState);
-         return sessionState;
-      }
+      return sessionStates.computeIfAbsent(clientId, key -> {
+         logger.debug("Adding MQTT session state for: {}", key);
+         return new MQTTSessionState(key);
+      });
    }
 
    public MQTTSessionState removeSessionState(String clientId) throws Exception {
diff --git a/artemis-protocols/artemis-mqtt-protocol/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/protocol/mqtt/MQTTStateManagerTest.java b/artemis-protocols/artemis-mqtt-protocol/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/protocol/mqtt/MQTTStateManagerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0b4b461ce71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/artemis-protocols/artemis-mqtt-protocol/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/protocol/mqtt/MQTTStateManagerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.activemq.artemis.core.protocol.mqtt;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
+
+import org.apache.activemq.artemis.core.config.Configuration;
+import org.apache.activemq.artemis.core.server.ActiveMQServer;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Timeout;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.fail;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
+
+public class MQTTStateManagerTest {
+
+   @Test
+   @Timeout(60)
+   public void testGetSessionStateNeverReturnsNullUnderConcurrentRemoval() throws Exception {
+      final ActiveMQServer server = mock(ActiveMQServer.class);
+      final Configuration configuration = mock(Configuration.class);
+      when(server.getConfiguration()).thenReturn(configuration);
+      when(configuration.isMqttSubscriptionPersistenceEnabled()).thenReturn(false);
+
+      final MQTTStateManager manager = MQTTStateManager.getInstance(server);
+      try {
+         final String clientId = "link-stealing-client";
+         final int iterations = 2_000_000;
+         final int removerThreads = 3;
+
+         final AtomicReference<Throwable> failure = new AtomicReference<>();
+         final AtomicBoolean stop = new AtomicBoolean(false);
+         final CountDownLatch start = new CountDownLatch(1);
+         final ExecutorService pool = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(removerThreads + 1);
+
+         for (int i = 0; i < removerThreads; i++) {
+            pool.submit(() -> {
+               awaitQuietly(start);
+               while (!stop.get() && failure.get() == null) {
+                  try {
+                     manager.removeSessionState(clientId);
+                  } catch (Throwable t) {
+                     failure.compareAndSet(null, t);
+                     return;
+                  }
+               }
+            });
+         }
+
+         pool.submit(() -> {
+            awaitQuietly(start);
+            try {
+               for (int i = 0; i < iterations && failure.get() == null; i++) {
+                  MQTTSessionState state = manager.getSessionState(clientId);
+                  assertNotNull(state, "getSessionState(String) must never return null (ARTEMIS-6085)");
+               }
+            } catch (Throwable t) {
+               failure.compareAndSet(null, t);
+            } finally {
+               stop.set(true);
+            }
+         });
+
+         start.countDown();
+         pool.shutdown();
+         assertTrue(pool.awaitTermination(50, TimeUnit.SECONDS), "concurrency test did not finish in time");
+
+         if (failure.get() != null) {
+            fail("getSessionState() returned null / threw under concurrent removal (ARTEMIS-6085)", failure.get());
+         }
+      } finally {
+         MQTTStateManager.removeInstance(server);
+      }
+   }
+
+   private static void awaitQuietly(CountDownLatch latch) {
+      try {
+         latch.await();
+      } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+         Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+      }
+   }
+}