diff --git a/packages/rich-text/src/to-tree.js b/packages/rich-text/src/to-tree.js
index 805b539053a578..b390954b796720 100644
--- a/packages/rich-text/src/to-tree.js
+++ b/packages/rich-text/src/to-tree.js
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ function fromFormat( {
 
 	let elementAttributes = {};
 
-	if ( boundaryClass ) {
+	if ( boundaryClass && isEditableTree ) {
 		elementAttributes[ 'data-rich-text-format-boundary' ] = 'true';
 	}
 
diff --git a/test/e2e/specs/editor/various/footnotes.spec.js b/test/e2e/specs/editor/various/footnotes.spec.js
index 63480bd11521c5..e65eee6d3d08eb 100644
--- a/test/e2e/specs/editor/various/footnotes.spec.js
+++ b/test/e2e/specs/editor/various/footnotes.spec.js
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ test.describe( 'Footnotes', () => {
 			{
 				name: 'core/paragraph',
 				attributes: {
-					content: `second paragraph<a data-rich-text-format-boundary="true" href="#${ id1 }" id="${ id1 }-link" data-fn="${ id1 }" class="fn">*</a>`,
+					content: `second paragraph<a href="#${ id1 }" id="${ id1 }-link" data-fn="${ id1 }" class="fn">*</a>`,
 				},
 			},
 			{
@@ -72,13 +72,13 @@ test.describe( 'Footnotes', () => {
 			{
 				name: 'core/paragraph',
 				attributes: {
-					content: `first paragraph<a data-rich-text-format-boundary="true" href="#${ id2 }" id="${ id2 }-link" data-fn="${ id2 }" class="fn">*</a>`,
+					content: `first paragraph<a href="#${ id2 }" id="${ id2 }-link" data-fn="${ id2 }" class="fn">*</a>`,
 				},
 			},
 			{
 				name: 'core/paragraph',
 				attributes: {
-					content: `second paragraph<a data-rich-text-format-boundary="true" href="#${ id1 }" id="${ id1 }-link" data-fn="${ id1 }" class="fn">*</a>`,
+					content: `second paragraph<a href="#${ id1 }" id="${ id1 }-link" data-fn="${ id1 }" class="fn">*</a>`,
 				},
 			},
 			{
@@ -106,13 +106,13 @@ test.describe( 'Footnotes', () => {
 			{
 				name: 'core/paragraph',
 				attributes: {
-					content: `second paragraph<a data-rich-text-format-boundary="true" href="#${ id1 }" id="${ id1 }-link" data-fn="${ id1 }" class="fn">*</a>`,
+					content: `second paragraph<a href="#${ id1 }" id="${ id1 }-link" data-fn="${ id1 }" class="fn">*</a>`,
 				},
 			},
 			{
 				name: 'core/paragraph',
 				attributes: {
-					content: `first paragraph<a data-rich-text-format-boundary="true" href="#${ id2 }" id="${ id2 }-link" data-fn="${ id2 }" class="fn">*</a>`,
+					content: `first paragraph<a href="#${ id2 }" id="${ id2 }-link" data-fn="${ id2 }" class="fn">*</a>`,
 				},
 			},
 			{
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ test.describe( 'Footnotes', () => {
 			{
 				name: 'core/paragraph',
 				attributes: {
-					content: `second paragraph<a data-rich-text-format-boundary="true" href="#${ id1 }" id="${ id1 }-link" data-fn="${ id1 }" class="fn">*</a>`,
+					content: `second paragraph<a href="#${ id1 }" id="${ id1 }-link" data-fn="${ id1 }" class="fn">*</a>`,
 				},
 			},
 			{