diff --git a/osu.Game/Utils/ModUtils.cs b/osu.Game/Utils/ModUtils.cs
index 40db981ef0..f11a06e3be 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Utils/ModUtils.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Utils/ModUtils.cs
@@ -115,12 +115,15 @@ namespace osu.Game.Utils
         {
             mods = mods.ToArray();
 
-            // exclude multi mods from compatibility checks.
-            // the loop below automatically marks all multi mods as not valid for gameplay anyway.
-            if (!CheckCompatibleSet(mods.Where(m => !(m is MultiMod)), out invalidMods))
+            // checking compatibility of multi mods would try to flatten them and return incompatible mods.
+            // in gameplay context, we never want MultiMod selected in the first place, therefore check against it first.
+            if (!checkValid(mods, m => !(m is MultiMod), out invalidMods))
                 return false;
 
-            return checkValid(mods, m => m.Type != ModType.System && m.HasImplementation && !(m is MultiMod), out invalidMods);
+            if (!CheckCompatibleSet(mods, out invalidMods))
+                return false;
+
+            return checkValid(mods, m => m.Type != ModType.System && m.HasImplementation, out invalidMods);
         }
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -133,10 +136,15 @@ namespace osu.Game.Utils
         {
             mods = mods.ToArray();
 
+            // checking compatibility of multi mods would try to flatten them and return incompatible mods.
+            // in gameplay context, we never want MultiMod selected in the first place, therefore check against it first.
+            if (!checkValid(mods, m => !(m is MultiMod), out invalidMods))
+                return false;
+
             if (!CheckCompatibleSet(mods, out invalidMods))
                 return false;
 
-            return checkValid(mods, m => m.IsPlayable(ModUsage.MultiplayerGlobal), out invalidMods);
+            return checkValid(mods, m => m.Type != ModType.System && m.HasImplementation && m.IsPlayable(ModUsage.MultiplayerGlobal), out invalidMods);
         }
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -146,7 +154,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Utils
         /// <param name="invalidMods">Invalid mods, if any were found. Will be null if all mods were valid.</param>
         /// <returns>Whether the input mods were all valid. If false, <paramref name="invalidMods"/> will contain all invalid entries.</returns>
         public static bool CheckValidFreeModsForMultiplayer(IEnumerable<Mod> mods, [NotNullWhen(false)] out List<Mod>? invalidMods)
-            => checkValid(mods, m => m.IsPlayable(ModUsage.MultiplayerLocal), out invalidMods);
+            => checkValid(mods, m => m.Type != ModType.System && m.HasImplementation && m.IsPlayable(ModUsage.MultiplayerLocal) && !(m is MultiMod), out invalidMods);
 
         private static bool checkValid(IEnumerable<Mod> mods, Predicate<Mod> valid, [NotNullWhen(false)] out List<Mod>? invalidMods)
         {