diff --git a/storage_controller/src/service/chaos_injector.rs b/storage_controller/src/service/chaos_injector.rs
index 0e551beaa7..98034421d6 100644
--- a/storage_controller/src/service/chaos_injector.rs
+++ b/storage_controller/src/service/chaos_injector.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,17 @@
-use std::{sync::Arc, time::Duration};
+use std::{
+    collections::{BTreeMap, HashMap},
+    sync::Arc,
+    time::Duration,
+};
 
 use pageserver_api::controller_api::ShardSchedulingPolicy;
 use rand::seq::SliceRandom;
 use rand::thread_rng;
 use tokio_util::sync::CancellationToken;
+use utils::id::NodeId;
+use utils::shard::TenantShardId;
 
-use super::Service;
+use super::{Node, Scheduler, Service, TenantShard};
 
 pub struct ChaosInjector {
     service: Arc<Service>,
@@ -35,50 +41,86 @@ impl ChaosInjector {
         }
     }
 
+    /// If a shard has a secondary and attached location, then re-assign the secondary to be
+    /// attached and the attached to be secondary.
+    ///
+    /// Only modifies tenants if they're in Active scheduling policy.
+    fn maybe_migrate_to_secondary(
+        &self,
+        tenant_shard_id: TenantShardId,
+        nodes: &Arc<HashMap<NodeId, Node>>,
+        tenants: &mut BTreeMap<TenantShardId, TenantShard>,
+        scheduler: &mut Scheduler,
+    ) {
+        let shard = tenants
+            .get_mut(&tenant_shard_id)
+            .expect("Held lock between choosing ID and this get");
+
+        if !matches!(shard.get_scheduling_policy(), ShardSchedulingPolicy::Active) {
+            // Skip non-active scheduling policies, so that a shard with a policy like Pause can
+            // be pinned without being disrupted by us.
+            tracing::info!(
+                "Skipping shard {tenant_shard_id}: scheduling policy is {:?}",
+                shard.get_scheduling_policy()
+            );
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // Pick a secondary to promote
+        let Some(new_location) = shard
+            .intent
+            .get_secondary()
+            .choose(&mut thread_rng())
+            .cloned()
+        else {
+            tracing::info!(
+                "Skipping shard {tenant_shard_id}: no secondary location, can't migrate"
+            );
+            return;
+        };
+
+        let Some(old_location) = *shard.intent.get_attached() else {
+            tracing::info!("Skipping shard {tenant_shard_id}: currently has no attached location");
+            return;
+        };
+
+        tracing::info!("Injecting chaos: migrate {tenant_shard_id} {old_location}->{new_location}");
+
+        shard.intent.demote_attached(scheduler, old_location);
+        shard.intent.promote_attached(scheduler, new_location);
+        self.service.maybe_reconcile_shard(shard, nodes);
+    }
+
     async fn inject_chaos(&mut self) {
         // Pick some shards to interfere with
         let batch_size = 128;
         let mut inner = self.service.inner.write().unwrap();
         let (nodes, tenants, scheduler) = inner.parts_mut();
         let tenant_ids = tenants.keys().cloned().collect::<Vec<_>>();
-        let victims = tenant_ids.choose_multiple(&mut thread_rng(), batch_size);
 
-        for victim in victims {
-            let shard = tenants
-                .get_mut(victim)
-                .expect("Held lock between choosing ID and this get");
-
-            if !matches!(shard.get_scheduling_policy(), ShardSchedulingPolicy::Active) {
-                // Skip non-active scheduling policies, so that a shard with a policy like Pause can
-                // be pinned without being disrupted by us.
-                tracing::info!(
-                    "Skipping shard {victim}: scheduling policy is {:?}",
-                    shard.get_scheduling_policy()
-                );
-                continue;
+        // Prefer to migrate tenants that are currently outside their home AZ.  This avoids the chaos injector
+        // continuously pushing tenants outside their home AZ: instead, we'll tend to cycle between picking some
+        // random tenants to move, and then on next chaos iteration moving them back, then picking some new
+        // random tenants on the next iteration.
+        let mut victims = Vec::with_capacity(batch_size);
+        for shard in tenants.values() {
+            if shard.is_attached_outside_preferred_az(nodes) {
+                victims.push(shard.tenant_shard_id);
             }
 
-            // Pick a secondary to promote
-            let Some(new_location) = shard
-                .intent
-                .get_secondary()
-                .choose(&mut thread_rng())
-                .cloned()
-            else {
-                tracing::info!("Skipping shard {victim}: no secondary location, can't migrate");
-                continue;
-            };
+            if victims.len() >= batch_size {
+                break;
+            }
+        }
 
-            let Some(old_location) = *shard.intent.get_attached() else {
-                tracing::info!("Skipping shard {victim}: currently has no attached location");
-                continue;
-            };
+        let choose_random = batch_size.saturating_sub(victims.len());
+        tracing::info!("Injecting chaos: found {} shards to migrate back to home AZ, picking {choose_random} random shards to migrate", victims.len());
 
-            tracing::info!("Injecting chaos: migrate {victim} {old_location}->{new_location}");
+        let random_victims = tenant_ids.choose_multiple(&mut thread_rng(), choose_random);
+        victims.extend(random_victims);
 
-            shard.intent.demote_attached(scheduler, old_location);
-            shard.intent.promote_attached(scheduler, new_location);
-            self.service.maybe_reconcile_shard(shard, nodes);
+        for victim in victims {
+            self.maybe_migrate_to_secondary(victim, nodes, tenants, scheduler);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/storage_controller/src/tenant_shard.rs b/storage_controller/src/tenant_shard.rs
index 79ed628c25..cbc2696b26 100644
--- a/storage_controller/src/tenant_shard.rs
+++ b/storage_controller/src/tenant_shard.rs
@@ -1793,6 +1793,23 @@ impl TenantShard {
             }
         }
     }
+
+    /// Returns true if the tenant shard is attached to a node that is outside the preferred AZ.
+    ///
+    /// If the shard does not have a preferred AZ, returns false.
+    pub(crate) fn is_attached_outside_preferred_az(&self, nodes: &HashMap<NodeId, Node>) -> bool {
+        self.intent
+            .get_attached()
+            .map(|node_id| {
+                Some(
+                    nodes
+                        .get(&node_id)
+                        .expect("referenced node exists")
+                        .get_availability_zone_id(),
+                ) == self.intent.preferred_az_id.as_ref()
+            })
+            .unwrap_or(false)
+    }
 }
 
 impl Drop for TenantShard {