diff --git a/.changelog/8696.txt b/.changelog/8696.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..eda07dd575
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/8696.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+```release-note:bug
+config: Fixed a bug where `rpc_max_conns_per_client` could not be changed by reloading the
+config.
+```
diff --git a/agent/acl_test.go b/agent/acl_test.go
index e5d4df594f..7145fda341 100644
--- a/agent/acl_test.go
+++ b/agent/acl_test.go
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ func (a *TestACLAgent) Shutdown() error {
 func (a *TestACLAgent) Stats() map[string]map[string]string {
 	return nil
 }
-func (a *TestACLAgent) ReloadConfig(config *consul.Config) error {
+func (a *TestACLAgent) ReloadConfig(_ consul.ReloadableConfig) error {
 	return fmt.Errorf("Unimplemented")
 }
 
diff --git a/agent/agent.go b/agent/agent.go
index 1d48cd85de..21e7b98a12 100644
--- a/agent/agent.go
+++ b/agent/agent.go
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ type delegate interface {
 	SnapshotRPC(args *structs.SnapshotRequest, in io.Reader, out io.Writer, replyFn structs.SnapshotReplyFn) error
 	Shutdown() error
 	Stats() map[string]map[string]string
-	ReloadConfig(config *consul.Config) error
+	ReloadConfig(config consul.ReloadableConfig) error
 	enterpriseDelegate
 }
 
@@ -1143,7 +1143,7 @@ func newConsulConfig(runtimeCfg *config.RuntimeConfig, logger hclog.Logger) (*co
 
 	// Rate limiting for RPC calls.
 	if runtimeCfg.RPCRateLimit > 0 {
-		cfg.RPCRate = runtimeCfg.RPCRateLimit
+		cfg.RPCRateLimit = runtimeCfg.RPCRateLimit
 	}
 	if runtimeCfg.RPCMaxBurst > 0 {
 		cfg.RPCMaxBurst = runtimeCfg.RPCMaxBurst
@@ -3517,11 +3517,6 @@ func (a *Agent) DisableNodeMaintenance() {
 	a.logger.Info("Node left maintenance mode")
 }
 
-func (a *Agent) loadLimits(conf *config.RuntimeConfig) {
-	a.config.RPCRateLimit = conf.RPCRateLimit
-	a.config.RPCMaxBurst = conf.RPCMaxBurst
-}
-
 // ReloadConfig will atomically reload all configuration, including
 // all services, checks, tokens, metadata, dnsServer configs, etc.
 // It will also reload all ongoing watches.
@@ -3602,8 +3597,6 @@ func (a *Agent) reloadConfigInternal(newCfg *config.RuntimeConfig) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("Failed reloading watches: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	a.loadLimits(newCfg)
-
 	a.httpConnLimiter.SetConfig(connlimit.Config{
 		MaxConnsPerClientIP: newCfg.HTTPMaxConnsPerClient,
 	})
@@ -3614,24 +3607,18 @@ func (a *Agent) reloadConfigInternal(newCfg *config.RuntimeConfig) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	// this only gets used by the consulConfig function and since
-	// that is only ever done during init and reload here then
-	// an in place modification is safe as reloads cannot be
-	// concurrent due to both gaining a full lock on the stateLock
-	a.config.ConfigEntryBootstrap = newCfg.ConfigEntryBootstrap
-
 	err := a.reloadEnterprise(newCfg)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	// create the config for the rpc server/client
-	consulCfg, err := newConsulConfig(a.config, a.logger)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
+	cc := consul.ReloadableConfig{
+		RPCRateLimit:         newCfg.RPCRateLimit,
+		RPCMaxBurst:          newCfg.RPCMaxBurst,
+		RPCMaxConnsPerClient: newCfg.RPCMaxConnsPerClient,
+		ConfigEntryBootstrap: newCfg.ConfigEntryBootstrap,
 	}
-
-	if err := a.delegate.ReloadConfig(consulCfg); err != nil {
+	if err := a.delegate.ReloadConfig(cc); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
diff --git a/agent/agent_endpoint_test.go b/agent/agent_endpoint_test.go
index 0d42589e52..73dc267b1d 100644
--- a/agent/agent_endpoint_test.go
+++ b/agent/agent_endpoint_test.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/acl"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/config"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/connect"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/consul"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/debug"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/local"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/structs"
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hashicorp/serf/serf"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"golang.org/x/time/rate"
 )
 
 func makeReadOnlyAgentACL(t *testing.T, srv *HTTPHandlers) string {
@@ -1452,6 +1454,8 @@ func TestAgent_Reload(t *testing.T) {
 		`,
 	})
 
+	shim := &delegateConfigReloadShim{delegate: a.delegate}
+	a.delegate = shim
 	if err := a.reloadConfigInternal(cfg2); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("got error %v want nil", err)
 	}
@@ -1459,13 +1463,8 @@ func TestAgent_Reload(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("missing redis-reloaded service")
 	}
 
-	if a.config.RPCRateLimit != 2 {
-		t.Fatalf("RPC rate not set correctly.  Got %v. Want 2", a.config.RPCRateLimit)
-	}
-
-	if a.config.RPCMaxBurst != 200 {
-		t.Fatalf("RPC max burst not set correctly.  Got %v. Want 200", a.config.RPCMaxBurst)
-	}
+	require.Equal(t, rate.Limit(2), shim.newCfg.RPCRateLimit)
+	require.Equal(t, 200, shim.newCfg.RPCMaxBurst)
 
 	for _, wp := range a.watchPlans {
 		if !wp.IsStopped() {
@@ -1474,6 +1473,16 @@ func TestAgent_Reload(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+type delegateConfigReloadShim struct {
+	delegate
+	newCfg consul.ReloadableConfig
+}
+
+func (s *delegateConfigReloadShim) ReloadConfig(cfg consul.ReloadableConfig) error {
+	s.newCfg = cfg
+	return s.delegate.ReloadConfig(cfg)
+}
+
 // TestAgent_ReloadDoesNotTriggerWatch Ensure watches not triggered after reload
 // see https://github.com/hashicorp/consul/issues/7446
 func TestAgent_ReloadDoesNotTriggerWatch(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/agent/config/runtime.go b/agent/config/runtime.go
index a1e5baa0f4..c5f3872185 100644
--- a/agent/config/runtime.go
+++ b/agent/config/runtime.go
@@ -921,8 +921,8 @@ type RuntimeConfig struct {
 
 	// RPCRateLimit and RPCMaxBurst control how frequently RPC calls are allowed
 	// to happen. In any large enough time interval, rate limiter limits the
-	// rate to RPCRate tokens per second, with a maximum burst size of
-	// RPCMaxBurst events. As a special case, if RPCRate == Inf (the infinite
+	// rate to RPCRateLimit tokens per second, with a maximum burst size of
+	// RPCMaxBurst events. As a special case, if RPCRateLimit == Inf (the infinite
 	// rate), RPCMaxBurst is ignored.
 	//
 	// See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Token_bucket for more about token
diff --git a/agent/consul/client.go b/agent/consul/client.go
index d2ae9a1edd..7b55dfaec0 100644
--- a/agent/consul/client.go
+++ b/agent/consul/client.go
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ func NewClient(config *Config, deps Deps) (*Client, error) {
 		tlsConfigurator: deps.TLSConfigurator,
 	}
 
-	c.rpcLimiter.Store(rate.NewLimiter(config.RPCRate, config.RPCMaxBurst))
+	c.rpcLimiter.Store(rate.NewLimiter(config.RPCRateLimit, config.RPCMaxBurst))
 
 	if err := c.initEnterprise(); err != nil {
 		c.Shutdown()
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ func (c *Client) GetLANCoordinate() (lib.CoordinateSet, error) {
 
 // ReloadConfig is used to have the Client do an online reload of
 // relevant configuration information
-func (c *Client) ReloadConfig(config *Config) error {
-	c.rpcLimiter.Store(rate.NewLimiter(config.RPCRate, config.RPCMaxBurst))
+func (c *Client) ReloadConfig(config ReloadableConfig) error {
+	c.rpcLimiter.Store(rate.NewLimiter(config.RPCRateLimit, config.RPCMaxBurst))
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/agent/consul/client_test.go b/agent/consul/client_test.go
index a65c9f454e..8253c25128 100644
--- a/agent/consul/client_test.go
+++ b/agent/consul/client_test.go
@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/hashicorp/go-hclog"
+	msgpackrpc "github.com/hashicorp/net-rpc-msgpackrpc"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/serf/serf"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"golang.org/x/time/rate"
+
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/pool"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/router"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/structs"
@@ -18,11 +24,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/sdk/testutil/retry"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/testrpc"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/tlsutil"
-	"github.com/hashicorp/go-hclog"
-	msgpackrpc "github.com/hashicorp/net-rpc-msgpackrpc"
-	"github.com/hashicorp/serf/serf"
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
-	"golang.org/x/time/rate"
 )
 
 func testClientConfig(t *testing.T) (string, *Config) {
@@ -532,7 +533,7 @@ func TestClient_RPC_RateLimit(t *testing.T) {
 	testrpc.WaitForLeader(t, s1.RPC, "dc1")
 
 	_, conf2 := testClientConfig(t)
-	conf2.RPCRate = 2
+	conf2.RPCRateLimit = 2
 	conf2.RPCMaxBurst = 2
 	c1 := newClient(t, conf2)
 
@@ -601,7 +602,7 @@ func TestClient_SnapshotRPC_RateLimit(t *testing.T) {
 	testrpc.WaitForLeader(t, s1.RPC, "dc1")
 
 	_, conf1 := testClientConfig(t)
-	conf1.RPCRate = 2
+	conf1.RPCRateLimit = 2
 	conf1.RPCMaxBurst = 2
 	c1 := newClient(t, conf1)
 
@@ -762,23 +763,25 @@ func TestClientServer_UserEvent(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestClient_Reload(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Parallel()
-	dir1, c := testClientWithConfig(t, func(c *Config) {
-		c.RPCRate = 500
-		c.RPCMaxBurst = 5000
-	})
-	defer os.RemoveAll(dir1)
-	defer c.Shutdown()
+func TestClient_ReloadConfig(t *testing.T) {
+	_, cfg := testClientConfig(t)
+	cfg.RPCRateLimit = rate.Limit(500)
+	cfg.RPCMaxBurst = 5000
+	deps := newDefaultDeps(t, &Config{NodeName: "node1", Datacenter: "dc1"})
+	c, err := NewClient(cfg, deps)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	limiter := c.rpcLimiter.Load().(*rate.Limiter)
 	require.Equal(t, rate.Limit(500), limiter.Limit())
 	require.Equal(t, 5000, limiter.Burst())
 
-	c.config.RPCRate = 1000
-	c.config.RPCMaxBurst = 10000
+	rc := ReloadableConfig{
+		RPCRateLimit:         1000,
+		RPCMaxBurst:          10000,
+		RPCMaxConnsPerClient: 0,
+	}
+	require.NoError(t, c.ReloadConfig(rc))
 
-	require.NoError(t, c.ReloadConfig(c.config))
 	limiter = c.rpcLimiter.Load().(*rate.Limiter)
 	require.Equal(t, rate.Limit(1000), limiter.Limit())
 	require.Equal(t, 10000, limiter.Burst())
diff --git a/agent/consul/config.go b/agent/consul/config.go
index 7b4cbb507e..509b4cfe94 100644
--- a/agent/consul/config.go
+++ b/agent/consul/config.go
@@ -416,16 +416,16 @@ type Config struct {
 	// place, and a small jitter is applied to avoid a thundering herd.
 	RPCHoldTimeout time.Duration
 
-	// RPCRate and RPCMaxBurst control how frequently RPC calls are allowed
+	// RPCRateLimit and RPCMaxBurst control how frequently RPC calls are allowed
 	// to happen. In any large enough time interval, rate limiter limits the
-	// rate to RPCRate tokens per second, with a maximum burst size of
-	// RPCMaxBurst events. As a special case, if RPCRate == Inf (the infinite
+	// rate to RPCRateLimit tokens per second, with a maximum burst size of
+	// RPCMaxBurst events. As a special case, if RPCRateLimit == Inf (the infinite
 	// rate), RPCMaxBurst is ignored.
 	//
 	// See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Token_bucket for more about token
 	// buckets.
-	RPCRate     rate.Limit
-	RPCMaxBurst int
+	RPCRateLimit rate.Limit
+	RPCMaxBurst  int
 
 	// RPCMaxConnsPerClient is the limit of how many concurrent connections are
 	// allowed from a single source IP.
@@ -582,8 +582,8 @@ func DefaultConfig() *Config {
 
 		CheckOutputMaxSize: checks.DefaultBufSize,
 
-		RPCRate:     rate.Inf,
-		RPCMaxBurst: 1000,
+		RPCRateLimit: rate.Inf,
+		RPCMaxBurst:  1000,
 
 		TLSMinVersion: "tls10",
 
@@ -655,3 +655,12 @@ func DefaultConfig() *Config {
 type RPCConfig struct {
 	EnableStreaming bool
 }
+
+// ReloadableConfig is the configuration that is passed to ReloadConfig when
+// application config is reloaded.
+type ReloadableConfig struct {
+	RPCRateLimit         rate.Limit
+	RPCMaxBurst          int
+	RPCMaxConnsPerClient int
+	ConfigEntryBootstrap []structs.ConfigEntry
+}
diff --git a/agent/consul/rpc_test.go b/agent/consul/rpc_test.go
index cd80ddfa73..4c283867e9 100644
--- a/agent/consul/rpc_test.go
+++ b/agent/consul/rpc_test.go
@@ -729,9 +729,12 @@ func TestRPC_RPCMaxConnsPerClient(t *testing.T) {
 			defer conn4.Close()
 
 			// Reload config with higher limit
-			newCfg := *s1.config
-			newCfg.RPCMaxConnsPerClient = 10
-			require.NoError(t, s1.ReloadConfig(&newCfg))
+			rc := ReloadableConfig{
+				RPCRateLimit:         s1.config.RPCRateLimit,
+				RPCMaxBurst:          s1.config.RPCMaxBurst,
+				RPCMaxConnsPerClient: 10,
+			}
+			require.NoError(t, s1.ReloadConfig(rc))
 
 			// Now another conn should be allowed
 			conn5 := connectClient(t, s1, tc.magicByte, tc.tlsEnabled, true, "conn5")
diff --git a/agent/consul/server.go b/agent/consul/server.go
index 7b01bce674..72be18c16b 100644
--- a/agent/consul/server.go
+++ b/agent/consul/server.go
@@ -395,7 +395,7 @@ func NewServer(config *Config, flat Deps) (*Server, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	s.rpcLimiter.Store(rate.NewLimiter(config.RPCRate, config.RPCMaxBurst))
+	s.rpcLimiter.Store(rate.NewLimiter(config.RPCRateLimit, config.RPCMaxBurst))
 
 	configReplicatorConfig := ReplicatorConfig{
 		Name:     logging.ConfigEntry,
@@ -1384,8 +1384,8 @@ func (s *Server) GetLANCoordinate() (lib.CoordinateSet, error) {
 
 // ReloadConfig is used to have the Server do an online reload of
 // relevant configuration information
-func (s *Server) ReloadConfig(config *Config) error {
-	s.rpcLimiter.Store(rate.NewLimiter(config.RPCRate, config.RPCMaxBurst))
+func (s *Server) ReloadConfig(config ReloadableConfig) error {
+	s.rpcLimiter.Store(rate.NewLimiter(config.RPCRateLimit, config.RPCMaxBurst))
 	s.rpcConnLimiter.SetConfig(connlimit.Config{
 		MaxConnsPerClientIP: config.RPCMaxConnsPerClient,
 	})
diff --git a/agent/consul/server_test.go b/agent/consul/server_test.go
index 4b862b23e0..5fd40b06f4 100644
--- a/agent/consul/server_test.go
+++ b/agent/consul/server_test.go
@@ -16,9 +16,13 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/google/tcpproxy"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/memberlist"
+
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/connect/ca"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/ipaddr"
-	"github.com/hashicorp/memberlist"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/go-uuid"
+	"golang.org/x/time/rate"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/connect"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/agent/metadata"
@@ -30,8 +34,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/testrpc"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/tlsutil"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/types"
-	"github.com/hashicorp/go-uuid"
-	"golang.org/x/time/rate"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
@@ -1458,14 +1460,13 @@ func TestServer_RevokeLeadershipIdempotent(t *testing.T) {
 	s1.revokeLeadership()
 }
 
-func TestServer_Reload(t *testing.T) {
+func TestServer_ReloadConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	if testing.Short() {
 		t.Skip("too slow for testing.Short")
 	}
-
 	t.Parallel()
 
-	global_entry_init := &structs.ProxyConfigEntry{
+	entryInit := &structs.ProxyConfigEntry{
 		Kind: structs.ProxyDefaults,
 		Name: structs.ProxyConfigGlobal,
 		Config: map[string]interface{}{
@@ -1478,7 +1479,7 @@ func TestServer_Reload(t *testing.T) {
 
 	dir1, s := testServerWithConfig(t, func(c *Config) {
 		c.Build = "1.5.0"
-		c.RPCRate = 500
+		c.RPCRateLimit = 500
 		c.RPCMaxBurst = 5000
 	})
 	defer os.RemoveAll(dir1)
@@ -1486,28 +1487,25 @@ func TestServer_Reload(t *testing.T) {
 
 	testrpc.WaitForTestAgent(t, s.RPC, "dc1")
 
-	s.config.ConfigEntryBootstrap = []structs.ConfigEntry{
-		global_entry_init,
-	}
-
 	limiter := s.rpcLimiter.Load().(*rate.Limiter)
 	require.Equal(t, rate.Limit(500), limiter.Limit())
 	require.Equal(t, 5000, limiter.Burst())
 
-	// Change rate limit
-	s.config.RPCRate = 1000
-	s.config.RPCMaxBurst = 10000
-
-	s.ReloadConfig(s.config)
+	rc := ReloadableConfig{
+		RPCRateLimit:         1000,
+		RPCMaxBurst:          10000,
+		ConfigEntryBootstrap: []structs.ConfigEntry{entryInit},
+	}
+	require.NoError(t, s.ReloadConfig(rc))
 
 	_, entry, err := s.fsm.State().ConfigEntry(nil, structs.ProxyDefaults, structs.ProxyConfigGlobal, structs.DefaultEnterpriseMeta())
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	require.NotNil(t, entry)
 	global, ok := entry.(*structs.ProxyConfigEntry)
 	require.True(t, ok)
-	require.Equal(t, global_entry_init.Kind, global.Kind)
-	require.Equal(t, global_entry_init.Name, global.Name)
-	require.Equal(t, global_entry_init.Config, global.Config)
+	require.Equal(t, entryInit.Kind, global.Kind)
+	require.Equal(t, entryInit.Name, global.Name)
+	require.Equal(t, entryInit.Config, global.Config)
 
 	// Check rate limiter got updated
 	limiter = s.rpcLimiter.Load().(*rate.Limiter)
@@ -1522,7 +1520,7 @@ func TestServer_RPC_RateLimit(t *testing.T) {
 
 	t.Parallel()
 	_, conf1 := testServerConfig(t)
-	conf1.RPCRate = 2
+	conf1.RPCRateLimit = 2
 	conf1.RPCMaxBurst = 2
 	s1, err := newServer(t, conf1)
 	if err != nil {