diff --git a/AutomatedTesting/Levels/Base/Base.ly b/AutomatedTesting/Levels/Base/Base.ly
index 8ce19923c0..0d0aa64648 100644
--- a/AutomatedTesting/Levels/Base/Base.ly
+++ b/AutomatedTesting/Levels/Base/Base.ly
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1
-oid sha256:e4937547ca4c486ef59656314401933217e0e0401fec103e1fb91c25ec60a177
-size 2806
+oid sha256:a5f9e27e0f22c31ca61d866fb594c6fde5b8ceb891e17dda075fa1e0033ec2b9
+size 1666
diff --git a/Code/Editor/CryEdit.cpp b/Code/Editor/CryEdit.cpp
index 027198ac80..8f42b1f4a1 100644
--- a/Code/Editor/CryEdit.cpp
+++ b/Code/Editor/CryEdit.cpp
@@ -287,21 +287,22 @@ bool CCryDocManager::DoPromptFileName(QString& fileName, [[maybe_unused]] UINT n
 
     return false;
 }
-CCryEditDoc* CCryDocManager::OpenDocumentFile(const char* lpszFileName, bool bAddToMRU)
+CCryEditDoc* CCryDocManager::OpenDocumentFile(const char* filename, bool addToMostRecentFileList, COpenSameLevelOptions openSameLevelOptions)
 {
-    assert(lpszFileName != nullptr);
+    assert(filename != nullptr);
 
+    const bool reopenIfSame = openSameLevelOptions == COpenSameLevelOptions::ReopenLevelIfSame;
     // find the highest confidence
     auto pos = m_templateList.begin();
     CCrySingleDocTemplate::Confidence bestMatch = CCrySingleDocTemplate::noAttempt;
     CCrySingleDocTemplate* pBestTemplate = nullptr;
     CCryEditDoc* pOpenDocument = nullptr;
 
-    if (lpszFileName[0] == '\"')
+    if (filename[0] == '\"')
     {
-        ++lpszFileName;
+        ++filename;
     }
-    QString szPath = QString::fromUtf8(lpszFileName);
+    QString szPath = QString::fromUtf8(filename);
     if (szPath.endsWith('"'))
     {
         szPath.remove(szPath.length() - 1, 1);
@@ -325,7 +326,7 @@ CCryEditDoc* CCryDocManager::OpenDocumentFile(const char* lpszFileName, bool bAd
         }
     }
 
-    if (pOpenDocument != nullptr)
+    if (!reopenIfSame && pOpenDocument != nullptr)
     {
         return pOpenDocument;
     }
@@ -336,7 +337,7 @@ CCryEditDoc* CCryDocManager::OpenDocumentFile(const char* lpszFileName, bool bAd
         return nullptr;
     }
 
-    return pBestTemplate->OpenDocumentFile(szPath.toUtf8().data(), bAddToMRU, false);
+    return pBestTemplate->OpenDocumentFile(szPath.toUtf8().data(), addToMostRecentFileList, false);
 }
 
 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
@@ -818,7 +819,7 @@ CCryEditDoc* CCrySingleDocTemplate::OpenDocumentFile(const char* lpszPathName, b
     return OpenDocumentFile(lpszPathName, true, bMakeVisible);
 }
 
-CCryEditDoc* CCrySingleDocTemplate::OpenDocumentFile(const char* lpszPathName, bool bAddToMRU, [[maybe_unused]] bool bMakeVisible)
+CCryEditDoc* CCrySingleDocTemplate::OpenDocumentFile(const char* lpszPathName, bool addToMostRecentFileList, [[maybe_unused]] bool bMakeVisible)
 {
     CCryEditDoc* pCurDoc = GetIEditor()->GetDocument();
 
@@ -848,7 +849,7 @@ CCryEditDoc* CCrySingleDocTemplate::OpenDocumentFile(const char* lpszPathName, b
     {
         pCurDoc->OnOpenDocument(lpszPathName);
         pCurDoc->SetPathName(lpszPathName);
-        if (bAddToMRU)
+        if (addToMostRecentFileList)
         {
             CCryEditApp::instance()->AddToRecentFileList(lpszPathName);
         }
@@ -3365,7 +3366,7 @@ void CCryEditApp::OnOpenSlice()
 }
 
 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-CCryEditDoc* CCryEditApp::OpenDocumentFile(const char* lpszFileName)
+CCryEditDoc* CCryEditApp::OpenDocumentFile(const char* filename, bool addToMostRecentFileList, COpenSameLevelOptions openSameLevelOptions)
 {
     if (m_openingLevel)
     {
@@ -3405,9 +3406,9 @@ CCryEditDoc* CCryEditApp::OpenDocumentFile(const char* lpszFileName)
             openDocTraceHandler.SetShowWindow(false);
         }
 
-        // in this case, we set bAddToMRU to always be true because adding files to the MRU list
+        // in this case, we set addToMostRecentFileList to always be true because adding files to the MRU list
         // automatically culls duplicate and normalizes paths anyway
-        m_pDocManager->OpenDocumentFile(lpszFileName, true);
+        m_pDocManager->OpenDocumentFile(filename, addToMostRecentFileList, openSameLevelOptions);
 
         if (openDocTraceHandler.HasAnyErrors())
         {
diff --git a/Code/Editor/CryEdit.h b/Code/Editor/CryEdit.h
index 730af7c034..f68cfdc33d 100644
--- a/Code/Editor/CryEdit.h
+++ b/Code/Editor/CryEdit.h
@@ -85,6 +85,12 @@ public:
 
 using EditorIdleProcessingBus = AZ::EBus<EditorIdleProcessing>;
 
+enum class COpenSameLevelOptions
+{
+    ReopenLevelIfSame,
+    NotReopenIfSame
+};
+
 AZ_PUSH_DISABLE_DLL_EXPORT_BASECLASS_WARNING
 AZ_PUSH_DISABLE_DLL_EXPORT_MEMBER_WARNING
 class SANDBOX_API CCryEditApp
@@ -174,7 +180,9 @@ public:
     virtual bool InitInstance();
     virtual int ExitInstance(int exitCode = 0);
     virtual bool OnIdle(LONG lCount);
-    virtual CCryEditDoc* OpenDocumentFile(const char* lpszFileName);
+    virtual CCryEditDoc* OpenDocumentFile(const char* filename,
+        bool addToMostRecentFileList=true,
+        COpenSameLevelOptions openSameLevelOptions = COpenSameLevelOptions::NotReopenIfSame);
 
     CCryDocManager* GetDocManager() { return m_pDocManager; }
 
@@ -448,7 +456,7 @@ public:
     ~CCrySingleDocTemplate() {};
     // avoid creating another CMainFrame
     // close other type docs before opening any things
-    virtual CCryEditDoc* OpenDocumentFile(const char* lpszPathName, bool bAddToMRU, bool bMakeVisible);
+    virtual CCryEditDoc* OpenDocumentFile(const char* lpszPathName, bool addToMostRecentFileList, bool bMakeVisible);
     virtual CCryEditDoc* OpenDocumentFile(const char* lpszPathName, bool bMakeVisible = TRUE);
     virtual Confidence MatchDocType(const char* lpszPathName, CCryEditDoc*& rpDocMatch);
 
@@ -468,7 +476,7 @@ public:
     virtual void OnFileNew();
     virtual bool DoPromptFileName(QString& fileName, UINT nIDSTitle,
         DWORD lFlags, bool bOpenFileDialog, CDocTemplate* pTemplate);
-    virtual CCryEditDoc* OpenDocumentFile(const char* lpszFileName, bool bAddToMRU);
+    virtual CCryEditDoc* OpenDocumentFile(const char* filename, bool addToMostRecentFileList, COpenSameLevelOptions openSameLevelOptions = COpenSameLevelOptions::NotReopenIfSame);
 
     QVector<CCrySingleDocTemplate*> m_templateList;
 };
diff --git a/Code/Editor/CryEditPy.cpp b/Code/Editor/CryEditPy.cpp
index 1b38fe23b8..427737335c 100644
--- a/Code/Editor/CryEditPy.cpp
+++ b/Code/Editor/CryEditPy.cpp
@@ -143,20 +143,11 @@ namespace
                 return false;
             }
         }
+        const bool addToMostRecentFileList = false;
+        auto newDocument = CCryEditApp::instance()->OpenDocumentFile(levelPath.toUtf8().data(),
+            addToMostRecentFileList, COpenSameLevelOptions::ReopenLevelIfSame);
 
-        auto previousDocument = GetIEditor()->GetDocument();
-        QString previousPathName = (previousDocument != nullptr) ? previousDocument->GetLevelPathName() : "";
-        auto newDocument = CCryEditApp::instance()->OpenDocumentFile(levelPath.toUtf8().data());
-
-        // the underlying document pointer doesn't change, so we can't check that; use the path name's instead
-
-        bool result = true;
-        if (newDocument == nullptr || newDocument->IsLevelLoadFailed() || (newDocument->GetLevelPathName() == previousPathName))
-        {
-            result = false;
-        }
-
-        return result;
+        return newDocument != nullptr && !newDocument->IsLevelLoadFailed();
     }
 
     bool PyOpenLevelNoPrompt(const char* pLevelName)