diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/calcite/plan/volcano/RelSubset.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/calcite/plan/volcano/RelSubset.java
index 60f4a074f3bf..9eeb972ea612 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/calcite/plan/volcano/RelSubset.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/calcite/plan/volcano/RelSubset.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 import org.apache.calcite.rel.metadata.RelMetadataQuery;
 import org.apache.calcite.rel.type.RelDataType;
 import org.apache.calcite.util.Litmus;
+import org.apache.calcite.util.Pair;
 import org.apache.calcite.util.Util;
 import org.apache.calcite.util.trace.CalciteTrace;
 
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@
 
 import java.io.PrintWriter;
 import java.io.StringWriter;
+import java.util.ArrayDeque;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Iterator;
@@ -319,15 +321,12 @@ RelNode buildCheapestPlan(VolcanoPlanner planner) {
    */
   void propagateCostImprovements(VolcanoPlanner planner, RelMetadataQuery mq,
       RelNode rel, Set<RelSubset> activeSet) {
-    for (RelSubset subset : set.subsets) {
-      if (rel.getTraitSet().satisfies(subset.traitSet)) {
-        subset.propagateCostImprovements0(planner, mq, rel, activeSet);
-      }
-    }
+    hierarchicalPropagateImprovement(planner, mq, this, rel, activeSet);
   }
 
   void propagateCostImprovements0(VolcanoPlanner planner, RelMetadataQuery mq,
-      RelNode rel, Set<RelSubset> activeSet) {
+      RelNode rel, Set<RelSubset> activeSet,
+      ArrayDeque<Pair<RelNode, RelSubset>> propagateQueue) {
     ++timestamp;
 
     if (!activeSet.add(this)) {
@@ -340,7 +339,8 @@ void propagateCostImprovements0(VolcanoPlanner planner, RelMetadataQuery mq,
     try {
       final RelOptCost cost = planner.getCost(rel, mq);
       if (cost.isLt(bestCost)) {
-        LOGGER.trace("Subset cost improved: subset [{}] cost was {} now {}", this, bestCost, cost);
+        LOGGER.trace("Subset cost improved: subset [{}] cost was {} now {}",
+            this, bestCost, cost);
 
         bestCost = cost;
         best = rel;
@@ -350,8 +350,7 @@ void propagateCostImprovements0(VolcanoPlanner planner, RelMetadataQuery mq,
         planner.ruleQueue.recompute(this);
         for (RelNode parent : getParents()) {
           final RelSubset parentSubset = planner.getSubset(parent);
-          parentSubset.propagateCostImprovements(planner, mq, parent,
-              activeSet);
+          parentSubset.push(parent, propagateQueue);
         }
         planner.checkForSatisfiedConverters(set, rel);
       }
@@ -360,6 +359,28 @@ void propagateCostImprovements0(VolcanoPlanner planner, RelMetadataQuery mq,
     }
   }
 
+  void hierarchicalPropagateImprovement(VolcanoPlanner planner, RelMetadataQuery mq,
+      RelSubset subset, RelNode rel, Set<RelSubset> activeSet) {
+    ArrayDeque<Pair<RelNode, RelSubset>> propagateQueue = new ArrayDeque<>();
+    subset.push(rel, propagateQueue);
+
+    while (!propagateQueue.isEmpty()) {
+      Pair<RelNode, RelSubset> first = propagateQueue.remove();
+
+      first.getValue()
+          .propagateCostImprovements0(planner, mq, first.getKey(), activeSet,
+              propagateQueue);
+    }
+  }
+
+  void push(RelNode rel, ArrayDeque<Pair<RelNode, RelSubset>> propagateQueue) {
+    for (RelSubset subset : set.subsets) {
+      if (rel.getTraitSet().satisfies(subset.traitSet)) {
+        propagateQueue.add(Pair.of(rel, subset));
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   public void propagateBoostRemoval(VolcanoPlanner planner) {
     planner.ruleQueue.recompute(this);