diff --git a/src/EFCore/Diagnostics/CoreEventId.cs b/src/EFCore/Diagnostics/CoreEventId.cs
index 36cb4c8ded5..09c7fa839f8 100644
--- a/src/EFCore/Diagnostics/CoreEventId.cs
+++ b/src/EFCore/Diagnostics/CoreEventId.cs
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ private enum Id
             QueryExecutionPlanned,
             PossibleUnintendedCollectionNavigationNullComparisonWarning,
             PossibleUnintendedReferenceComparisonWarning,
+            InvalidIncludePathError,
 
             // Infrastructure events
             SensitiveDataLoggingEnabledWarning = CoreBaseId + 400,
@@ -196,6 +197,20 @@ public static readonly EventId PossibleUnintendedCollectionNavigationNullCompari
         public static readonly EventId PossibleUnintendedReferenceComparisonWarning
             = MakeQueryId(Id.PossibleUnintendedReferenceComparisonWarning);
 
+        /// <summary>
+        ///     <para>
+        ///         Invalid include path '{navigationChain}', couldn't find navigation for '{navigationName}'.
+        ///     </para>
+        ///     <para>
+        ///         This event is in the <see cref="DbLoggerCategory.Query" /> category.
+        ///     </para>
+        ///     <para>
+        ///         This event uses the <see cref="InvalidIncludePathEventData" /> payload when used with a <see cref="DiagnosticSource" />.
+        ///     </para>
+        /// </summary>
+        public static readonly EventId InvalidIncludePathError
+            = MakeQueryId(Id.InvalidIncludePathError);
+
         private static readonly string _infraPrefix = DbLoggerCategory.Infrastructure.Name + ".";
         private static EventId MakeInfraId(Id id) => new EventId((int)id, _infraPrefix + id);
 
diff --git a/src/EFCore/Diagnostics/CoreLoggerExtensions.cs b/src/EFCore/Diagnostics/CoreLoggerExtensions.cs
index c9046172cdf..acbf40e86e6 100644
--- a/src/EFCore/Diagnostics/CoreLoggerExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/EFCore/Diagnostics/CoreLoggerExtensions.cs
@@ -531,7 +531,7 @@ public static void PossibleUnintendedReferenceComparisonWarning(
 
             if (diagnostics.ShouldLog(definition))
             {
-                definition.Log(diagnostics,left, right);
+                definition.Log(diagnostics, left, right);
             }
 
             if (diagnostics.NeedsEventData(definition, out var diagnosticSourceEnabled, out var simpleLogEnabled))
@@ -553,6 +553,37 @@ private static string PossibleUnintendedReferenceComparisonWarning(EventDefiniti
             return d.GenerateMessage(p.Left, p.Right);
         }
 
+        public static void InvalidIncludePathError(
+            [NotNull] this IDiagnosticsLogger<DbLoggerCategory.Query> diagnostics,
+            [NotNull] string navigationChain,
+            [NotNull] string navigationName)
+        {
+            var definition = CoreResources.LogInvalidIncludePath(diagnostics);
+            if (diagnostics.ShouldLog(definition))
+            {
+                definition.Log(diagnostics, navigationChain, navigationName);
+            }
+
+            if (diagnostics.NeedsEventData(definition, out var diagnosticSourceEnabled, out var simpleLogEnabled))
+            {
+                var eventData = new InvalidIncludePathEventData(
+                    definition,
+                    InvalidIncludePathError,
+                    navigationChain,
+                    navigationName);
+
+                diagnostics.DispatchEventData(definition, eventData, diagnosticSourceEnabled, simpleLogEnabled);
+            }
+        }
+
+        private static string InvalidIncludePathError(EventDefinitionBase definition, EventData payload)
+        {
+            var d = (EventDefinition<object, object>)definition;
+            var p = (InvalidIncludePathEventData)payload;
+
+            return d.GenerateMessage(p.NavigationChain, p.NavigationName);
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         ///     Logs for the <see cref="CoreEventId.ServiceProviderCreated" /> event.
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/src/EFCore/Diagnostics/Internal/InvalidIncludePathEventData.cs b/src/EFCore/Diagnostics/Internal/InvalidIncludePathEventData.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4f9e8b684e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/EFCore/Diagnostics/Internal/InvalidIncludePathEventData.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// Copyright (c) .NET Foundation. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+
+using System;
+using System.Diagnostics;
+using JetBrains.Annotations;
+
+namespace Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Diagnostics
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    ///     A <see cref="DiagnosticSource" /> event payload class for events that have
+    ///     invalid include path information.
+    /// </summary>
+    public class InvalidIncludePathEventData : EventData
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        ///     Constructs the event payload.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="eventDefinition"> The event definition. </param>
+        /// <param name="messageGenerator"> A delegate that generates a log message for this event. </param>
+        /// <param name="navigationChain"> Navigation chain included to this point. </param>
+        /// <param name="navigationName"> The name of the invalid navigation. </param>
+        public InvalidIncludePathEventData(
+            [NotNull] EventDefinitionBase eventDefinition,
+            [NotNull] Func<EventDefinitionBase, EventData, string> messageGenerator,
+            [NotNull] string navigationChain,
+            [NotNull] string navigationName)
+            : base(eventDefinition, messageGenerator)
+        {
+            NavigationChain = navigationChain;
+            NavigationName = navigationName;
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        ///     Navigation chain included to this point.
+        /// </summary>
+        public virtual string NavigationChain { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        ///     The name of the invalid navigation.
+        /// </summary>
+        public virtual string NavigationName { get; }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/EFCore/Diagnostics/LoggingDefinitions.cs b/src/EFCore/Diagnostics/LoggingDefinitions.cs
index 9880968e271..82a3f4de886 100644
--- a/src/EFCore/Diagnostics/LoggingDefinitions.cs
+++ b/src/EFCore/Diagnostics/LoggingDefinitions.cs
@@ -376,6 +376,15 @@ public abstract class LoggingDefinitions
         [EntityFrameworkInternal]
         public EventDefinitionBase LogPossibleUnintendedReferenceComparison;
 
+        /// <summary>
+        ///     This is an internal API that supports the Entity Framework Core infrastructure and not subject to
+        ///     the same compatibility standards as public APIs. It may be changed or removed without notice in
+        ///     any release. You should only use it directly in your code with extreme caution and knowing that
+        ///     doing so can result in application failures when updating to a new Entity Framework Core release.
+        /// </summary>
+        [EntityFrameworkInternal]
+        public EventDefinitionBase LogInvalidIncludePath;
+
         /// <summary>
         ///     This is an internal API that supports the Entity Framework Core infrastructure and not subject to
         ///     the same compatibility standards as public APIs. It may be changed or removed without notice in
diff --git a/src/EFCore/Infrastructure/CoreOptionsExtension.cs b/src/EFCore/Infrastructure/CoreOptionsExtension.cs
index 770389c8466..aee74f75d4d 100644
--- a/src/EFCore/Infrastructure/CoreOptionsExtension.cs
+++ b/src/EFCore/Infrastructure/CoreOptionsExtension.cs
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ private WarningsConfiguration _warningsConfiguration
             = new WarningsConfiguration()
                 .TryWithExplicit(CoreEventId.ManyServiceProvidersCreatedWarning, WarningBehavior.Throw)
                 .TryWithExplicit(CoreEventId.LazyLoadOnDisposedContextWarning, WarningBehavior.Throw)
-                .TryWithExplicit(CoreEventId.DetachedLazyLoadingWarning, WarningBehavior.Throw);
+                .TryWithExplicit(CoreEventId.DetachedLazyLoadingWarning, WarningBehavior.Throw)
+                .TryWithExplicit(CoreEventId.InvalidIncludePathError, WarningBehavior.Throw);
 
         /// <summary>
         ///     Creates a new set of options with everything set to default values.
diff --git a/src/EFCore/Properties/CoreStrings.Designer.cs b/src/EFCore/Properties/CoreStrings.Designer.cs
index cf4bafc35de..2d3560d7c2a 100644
--- a/src/EFCore/Properties/CoreStrings.Designer.cs
+++ b/src/EFCore/Properties/CoreStrings.Designer.cs
@@ -3478,6 +3478,30 @@ public static EventDefinition<object, object> LogPossibleUnintendedReferenceComp
             return (EventDefinition<object, object>)definition;
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        ///     Invalid include path '{navigationChain}', couldn't find navigation for '{navigationName}'.
+        /// </summary>
+        public static EventDefinition<object, object> LogInvalidIncludePath([NotNull] IDiagnosticsLogger logger)
+        {
+            var definition = ((LoggingDefinitions)logger.Definitions).LogInvalidIncludePath;
+            if (definition == null)
+            {
+                definition = LazyInitializer.EnsureInitialized<EventDefinitionBase>(
+                    ref ((LoggingDefinitions)logger.Definitions).LogInvalidIncludePath,
+                    () => new EventDefinition<object, object>(
+                        logger.Options,
+                        CoreEventId.InvalidIncludePathError,
+                        LogLevel.Error,
+                        "CoreEventId.InvalidIncludePathError",
+                        level => LoggerMessage.Define<object, object>(
+                            level,
+                            CoreEventId.InvalidIncludePathError,
+                            _resourceManager.GetString("InvalidIncludePath"))));
+            }
+
+            return (EventDefinition<object, object>)definition;
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         ///     The same entity is being tracked as different weak entity types '{dependent1}' and '{dependent2}'. If a property value changes it will result in two store changes, which might not be the desired outcome.
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/src/EFCore/Query/Internal/NavigationExpandingExpressionVisitor.cs b/src/EFCore/Query/Internal/NavigationExpandingExpressionVisitor.cs
index fbaf27181a0..bae24432a3f 100644
--- a/src/EFCore/Query/Internal/NavigationExpandingExpressionVisitor.cs
+++ b/src/EFCore/Query/Internal/NavigationExpandingExpressionVisitor.cs
@@ -789,7 +789,7 @@ private NavigationExpansionExpression ProcessInclude(NavigationExpansionExpressi
 
                         if (includeTreeNodes.Count == 0)
                         {
-                            throw new InvalidOperationException(CoreStrings.InvalidIncludePath(navigationChain, navigationName));
+                            _queryCompilationContext.Logger.InvalidIncludePathError(navigationChain, navigationName);
                         }
                     }
                 }
diff --git a/test/EFCore.Specification.Tests/Query/NorthwindMiscellaneousQueryTestBase.cs b/test/EFCore.Specification.Tests/Query/NorthwindMiscellaneousQueryTestBase.cs
index c8fc367adcb..f44f0131546 100644
--- a/test/EFCore.Specification.Tests/Query/NorthwindMiscellaneousQueryTestBase.cs
+++ b/test/EFCore.Specification.Tests/Query/NorthwindMiscellaneousQueryTestBase.cs
@@ -5864,5 +5864,13 @@ public virtual async Task Null_parameter_name_works(bool isAsync)
 
             Assert.Empty(result);
         }
+
+        [ConditionalTheory]
+        [MemberData(nameof(IsAsyncData))]
+        public virtual Task String_include_on_incorrect_property_throws(bool async)
+        {
+            return Assert.ThrowsAsync<InvalidOperationException>(
+                async () => await AssertQuery(async, ss => ss.Set<Customer>().Include("OrderDetails")));
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/test/EFCore.SqlServer.FunctionalTests/Query/QueryBugsTest.cs b/test/EFCore.SqlServer.FunctionalTests/Query/QueryBugsTest.cs
index 76a80b0fb45..42dd81259b2 100644
--- a/test/EFCore.SqlServer.FunctionalTests/Query/QueryBugsTest.cs
+++ b/test/EFCore.SqlServer.FunctionalTests/Query/QueryBugsTest.cs
@@ -7207,6 +7207,75 @@ private class MyModel20097 : IHaveId20097
 
         #endregion
 
+        #region Issue20609
+
+        [ConditionalFact]
+        public virtual void Can_ignore_invalid_include_path_error()
+        {
+            using var context = CreateContext20609();
+            var result = context.Set<ClassA>().Include("SubB").ToList();
+        }
+
+        public class BaseClass
+        {
+            public string Id { get; set; }
+        }
+
+        public class ClassA : BaseClass
+        {
+            public SubA SubA { get; set; }
+        }
+
+        public class ClassB : BaseClass
+        {
+            public SubB SubB { get; set; }
+        }
+
+        public class SubA
+        {
+            public int Id { get; set; }
+        }
+
+        public class SubB
+        {
+            public int Id { get; set; }
+        }
+
+        private BugContext20609 CreateContext20609()
+        {
+            var testStore = SqlServerTestStore.CreateInitialized("QueryBugsTest", multipleActiveResultSets: true);
+            var options = Fixture.AddOptions(testStore.AddProviderOptions(new DbContextOptionsBuilder()))
+                .EnableDetailedErrors()
+                .EnableServiceProviderCaching(false)
+                .ConfigureWarnings(x => x.Ignore(CoreEventId.InvalidIncludePathError))
+                .Options;
+
+            var context = new BugContext20609(options);
+            context.Database.EnsureCreatedResiliently();
+
+            return context;
+        }
+
+        private class BugContext20609 : DbContext
+        {
+            public BugContext20609(DbContextOptions options)
+                : base(options)
+            {
+            }
+
+            public DbSet<BaseClass> BaseClasses { get; set; }
+            public DbSet<SubA> SubAs { get; set; }
+            public DbSet<SubB> SubBs { get; set; }
+
+            protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder modelBuilder)
+            {
+                modelBuilder.Entity<ClassA>().HasBaseType<BaseClass>().HasOne(x => x.SubA).WithMany();
+                modelBuilder.Entity<ClassB>().HasBaseType<BaseClass>().HasOne(x => x.SubB).WithMany();
+            }
+        }
+
+        #endregion
+
         private DbContextOptions _options;
 
         private SqlServerTestStore CreateTestStore<TContext>(