diff --git a/pulpcore/plugin/stages/artifact_stages.py b/pulpcore/plugin/stages/artifact_stages.py
index 649a859371..c0cb70a268 100644
--- a/pulpcore/plugin/stages/artifact_stages.py
+++ b/pulpcore/plugin/stages/artifact_stages.py
@@ -5,11 +5,10 @@
 
 from aiofiles import os as aos
 from asgiref.sync import sync_to_async
-from django.db.models import Prefetch, prefetch_related_objects, Q
+from django.db.models import Prefetch, prefetch_related_objects
 
 from pulpcore.plugin.exceptions import UnsupportedDigestValidationError
 from pulpcore.plugin.models import (
-    AlternateContentSource,
     Artifact,
     ContentArtifact,
     ProgressReport,
@@ -472,52 +471,43 @@ class ACSArtifactHandler(Stage):
 
     async def run(self):
         async for batch in self.batches():
-            acs_query = AlternateContentSource.objects.filter(pulp_domain=self.domain)
-            acs_exists = await acs_query.aexists()
-            if acs_exists:
-                # Gather batch d_artifact checksums
-                batch_checksums = defaultdict(list)
-                for d_content in batch:
-                    for d_artifact in d_content.d_artifacts:
-                        for cks_type in d_artifact.artifact.COMMON_DIGEST_FIELDS:
-                            if getattr(d_artifact.artifact, cks_type):
-                                batch_checksums[cks_type].append(
-                                    getattr(d_artifact.artifact, cks_type)
-                                )
-
-                batch_query = Q()
-                for checksum_type in batch_checksums.keys():
-                    batch_query.add(
-                        Q(**{f"{checksum_type}__in": batch_checksums[checksum_type]}), Q.OR
-                    )
+            # Gather batch d_artifact checksums
+            batch_checksums = defaultdict(list)
+            for d_content in batch:
+                for d_artifact in d_content.d_artifacts:
+                    for cks_type in d_artifact.artifact.COMMON_DIGEST_FIELDS:
+                        if getattr(d_artifact.artifact, cks_type):
+                            batch_checksums[cks_type].append(getattr(d_artifact.artifact, cks_type))
 
+            existing_ras_dict = dict()
+            for checksum_type in batch_checksums.keys():
                 existing_ras = (
                     RemoteArtifact.objects.acs()
-                    .filter(batch_query)
-                    .only("url", "remote")
+                    .filter(**{f"{checksum_type}__in": batch_checksums[checksum_type]})
+                    .only("url", checksum_type, "remote")
                     .select_related("remote")
                 )
-                existing_ras_dict = dict()
-                async for ra in existing_ras:
-                    for c_type in Artifact.COMMON_DIGEST_FIELDS:
-                        checksum = await sync_to_async(getattr)(ra, c_type)
-                        # pick the first occurence of RA from ACS
-                        if checksum and checksum not in existing_ras_dict:
-                            existing_ras_dict[checksum] = {
-                                "remote": ra.remote,
-                                "url": ra.url,
-                            }
+                # todo: we could probably get rid of this select_related by separating
+                # out the remote query
+                async for ra in existing_ras.aiterator():
+                    checksum = getattr(ra, checksum_type)
+                    # pick the first occurence of RA from ACS
+                    if checksum not in existing_ras_dict:
+                        existing_ras_dict[checksum] = {
+                            "remote": ra.remote,
+                            "url": ra.url,
+                        }
 
-                for d_content in batch:
-                    for d_artifact in d_content.d_artifacts:
-                        for checksum_type in Artifact.COMMON_DIGEST_FIELDS:
-                            if getattr(d_artifact.artifact, checksum_type):
-                                checksum = getattr(d_artifact.artifact, checksum_type)
-                                if checksum in existing_ras_dict:
-                                    d_artifact.urls = [
-                                        existing_ras_dict[checksum]["url"]
-                                    ] + d_artifact.urls
-                                    d_artifact.remote = existing_ras_dict[checksum]["remote"]
+            for d_content in batch:
+                for d_artifact in d_content.d_artifacts:
+                    for checksum_type in Artifact.COMMON_DIGEST_FIELDS:
+                        if getattr(d_artifact.artifact, checksum_type):
+                            checksum = getattr(d_artifact.artifact, checksum_type)
+                            if checksum in existing_ras_dict:
+                                d_artifact.urls = [
+                                    existing_ras_dict[checksum]["url"]
+                                ] + d_artifact.urls
+                                d_artifact.remote = existing_ras_dict[checksum]["remote"]
 
             for d_content in batch:
                 await self.put(d_content)
diff --git a/pulpcore/plugin/stages/declarative_version.py b/pulpcore/plugin/stages/declarative_version.py
index 0c1a40a745..df6bc1ec01 100644
--- a/pulpcore/plugin/stages/declarative_version.py
+++ b/pulpcore/plugin/stages/declarative_version.py
@@ -1,20 +1,22 @@
 import asyncio
 import tempfile
 
-from .api import create_pipeline, EndStage
-from .artifact_stages import (
+from pulpcore.plugin.models import AlternateContentSource
+from pulpcore.plugin.stages.api import create_pipeline, EndStage
+from pulpcore.plugin.stages.artifact_stages import (
     ACSArtifactHandler,
     ArtifactDownloader,
     ArtifactSaver,
     QueryExistingArtifacts,
     RemoteArtifactSaver,
 )
-from .content_stages import (
+from pulpcore.plugin.stages.content_stages import (
     ContentAssociation,
     ContentSaver,
     QueryExistingContents,
     ResolveContentFutures,
 )
+from pulpcore.plugin.util import get_domain_pk
 
 
 class DeclarativeVersion:
@@ -131,7 +133,7 @@ def pipeline_stages(self, new_version):
             self.first_stage,
             QueryExistingArtifacts(),
         ]
-        if self.acs:
+        if self.acs and AlternateContentSource.objects.filter(pulp_domain=get_domain_pk()).exists():
             pipeline.append(ACSArtifactHandler())
         pipeline.extend(
             [