diff --git a/connector/connect/client/jvm/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSession.scala b/connector/connect/client/jvm/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSession.scala
index 19c5a3f14c64..80336fb1eaea 100644
--- a/connector/connect/client/jvm/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSession.scala
+++ b/connector/connect/client/jvm/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSession.scala
@@ -829,10 +829,16 @@ object SparkSession extends Logging {
 
   /**
    * Set the (global) default [[SparkSession]], and (thread-local) active [[SparkSession]] when
-   * they are not set yet.
+   * they are not set yet or the associated [[SparkConnectClient]] is unusable.
    */
   private def setDefaultAndActiveSession(session: SparkSession): Unit = {
-    defaultSession.compareAndSet(null, session)
+    val currentDefault = defaultSession.getAcquire
+    if (currentDefault == null || !currentDefault.client.isSessionValid) {
+      // Update `defaultSession` if it is null or the contained session is not valid. There is a
+      // chance that the following `compareAndSet` fails if a new default session has just been set,
+      // but that does not matter since that event has happened after this method was invoked.
+      defaultSession.compareAndSet(currentDefault, session)
+    }
     if (getActiveSession.isEmpty) {
       setActiveSession(session)
     }
@@ -972,7 +978,7 @@ object SparkSession extends Logging {
     def appName(name: String): Builder = this
 
     private def tryCreateSessionFromClient(): Option[SparkSession] = {
-      if (client != null) {
+      if (client != null && client.isSessionValid) {
         Option(new SparkSession(client, planIdGenerator))
       } else {
         None
@@ -1024,7 +1030,16 @@ object SparkSession extends Logging {
      */
     def getOrCreate(): SparkSession = {
       val session = tryCreateSessionFromClient()
-        .getOrElse(sessions.get(builder.configuration))
+        .getOrElse({
+          var existingSession = sessions.get(builder.configuration)
+          if (!existingSession.client.isSessionValid) {
+            // If the cached session has become invalid, e.g., due to a server restart, the cache
+            // entry is invalidated.
+            sessions.invalidate(builder.configuration)
+            existingSession = sessions.get(builder.configuration)
+          }
+          existingSession
+        })
       setDefaultAndActiveSession(session)
       applyOptions(session)
       session
@@ -1032,11 +1047,13 @@ object SparkSession extends Logging {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Returns the default SparkSession.
+   * Returns the default SparkSession. If the previously set default SparkSession becomes
+   * unusable, returns None.
    *
    * @since 3.5.0
    */
-  def getDefaultSession: Option[SparkSession] = Option(defaultSession.get())
+  def getDefaultSession: Option[SparkSession] =
+    Option(defaultSession.get()).filter(_.client.isSessionValid)
 
   /**
    * Sets the default SparkSession.
@@ -1057,11 +1074,13 @@ object SparkSession extends Logging {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Returns the active SparkSession for the current thread.
+   * Returns the active SparkSession for the current thread. If the previously set active
+   * SparkSession becomes unusable, returns None.
    *
    * @since 3.5.0
    */
-  def getActiveSession: Option[SparkSession] = Option(activeThreadSession.get())
+  def getActiveSession: Option[SparkSession] =
+    Option(activeThreadSession.get()).filter(_.client.isSessionValid)
 
   /**
    * Changes the SparkSession that will be returned in this thread and its children when
diff --git a/connector/connect/client/jvm/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSessionE2ESuite.scala b/connector/connect/client/jvm/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSessionE2ESuite.scala
index 203b1295005a..b28aa905c7a2 100644
--- a/connector/connect/client/jvm/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSessionE2ESuite.scala
+++ b/connector/connect/client/jvm/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SparkSessionE2ESuite.scala
@@ -382,4 +382,43 @@ class SparkSessionE2ESuite extends ConnectFunSuite with RemoteSparkSession {
         .create()
     }
   }
+
+  test("SPARK-47986: get or create after session changed") {
+    val remote = s"sc://localhost:$serverPort"
+
+    SparkSession.clearDefaultSession()
+    SparkSession.clearActiveSession()
+
+    val session1 = SparkSession
+      .builder()
+      .remote(remote)
+      .getOrCreate()
+
+    assert(session1 eq SparkSession.getActiveSession.get)
+    assert(session1 eq SparkSession.getDefaultSession.get)
+    assert(session1.range(3).collect().length == 3)
+
+    session1.client.hijackServerSideSessionIdForTesting("-testing")
+
+    val e = intercept[SparkException] {
+      session1.range(3).analyze
+    }
+
+    assert(e.getMessage.contains("[INVALID_HANDLE.SESSION_CHANGED]"))
+    assert(!session1.client.isSessionValid)
+    assert(SparkSession.getActiveSession.isEmpty)
+    assert(SparkSession.getDefaultSession.isEmpty)
+
+    val session2 = SparkSession
+      .builder()
+      .remote(remote)
+      .getOrCreate()
+
+    assert(session1 ne session2)
+    assert(session2.client.isSessionValid)
+    assert(session2 eq SparkSession.getActiveSession.get)
+    assert(session2 eq SparkSession.getDefaultSession.get)
+    assert(session2.range(3).collect().length == 3)
+  }
+
 }
diff --git a/connector/connect/common/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/connect/client/ResponseValidator.scala b/connector/connect/common/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/connect/client/ResponseValidator.scala
index 29272c96132b..42c3387335be 100644
--- a/connector/connect/common/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/connect/client/ResponseValidator.scala
+++ b/connector/connect/common/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/connect/client/ResponseValidator.scala
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@
  */
 package org.apache.spark.sql.connect.client
 
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean
+
 import com.google.protobuf.GeneratedMessageV3
+import io.grpc.{Status, StatusRuntimeException}
 import io.grpc.stub.StreamObserver
 
 import org.apache.spark.internal.Logging
@@ -30,6 +33,12 @@ class ResponseValidator extends Logging {
   // do not use server-side streaming.
   private var serverSideSessionId: Option[String] = None
 
+  // Indicates whether the client and the client information on the server correspond to each other
+  // This flag being false means that the server has restarted and lost the client information, or
+  // there is a logic error in the code; both cases, the user should establish a new connection to
+  // the server. Access to the value has to be synchronized since it can be shared.
+  private val isSessionActive: AtomicBoolean = new AtomicBoolean(true)
+
   // Returns the server side session ID, used to send it back to the server in the follow-up
   // requests so the server can validate it session id against the previous requests.
   def getServerSideSessionId: Option[String] = serverSideSessionId
@@ -42,8 +51,25 @@ class ResponseValidator extends Logging {
     serverSideSessionId = Some(serverSideSessionId.getOrElse("") + suffix)
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Returns true if the session is valid on both the client and the server.
+   */
+  private[sql] def isSessionValid: Boolean = {
+    // An active session is considered valid.
+    isSessionActive.getAcquire
+  }
+
   def verifyResponse[RespT <: GeneratedMessageV3](fn: => RespT): RespT = {
-    val response = fn
+    val response =
+      try {
+        fn
+      } catch {
+        case e: StatusRuntimeException
+            if e.getStatus.getCode == Status.Code.INTERNAL &&
+              e.getMessage.contains("[INVALID_HANDLE.SESSION_CHANGED]") =>
+          isSessionActive.setRelease(false)
+          throw e
+      }
     val field = response.getDescriptorForType.findFieldByName("server_side_session_id")
     // If the field does not exist, we ignore it. New / Old message might not contain it and this
     // behavior allows us to be compatible.
@@ -54,6 +80,7 @@ class ResponseValidator extends Logging {
         serverSideSessionId match {
           case Some(id) =>
             if (value != id) {
+              isSessionActive.setRelease(false)
               throw new IllegalStateException(
                 s"Server side session ID changed from $id to $value")
             }
diff --git a/connector/connect/common/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/connect/client/SparkConnectClient.scala b/connector/connect/common/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/connect/client/SparkConnectClient.scala
index b5eda024bfb3..7c3108fdb1b0 100644
--- a/connector/connect/common/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/connect/client/SparkConnectClient.scala
+++ b/connector/connect/common/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/connect/client/SparkConnectClient.scala
@@ -71,6 +71,17 @@ private[sql] class SparkConnectClient(
     stubState.responseValidator.hijackServerSideSessionIdForTesting(suffix)
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Returns true if the session is valid on both the client and the server. A session becomes
+   * invalid if the server side information about the client, e.g., session ID, does not
+   * correspond to the actual client state.
+   */
+  private[sql] def isSessionValid: Boolean = {
+    // The last known state of the session is store in `responseValidator`, because it is where the
+    // client gets responses from the server.
+    stubState.responseValidator.isSessionValid
+  }
+
   private[sql] val artifactManager: ArtifactManager = {
     new ArtifactManager(configuration, sessionId, bstub, stub)
   }