diff --git a/middleware/proxy.go b/middleware/proxy.go
index a40d58130..497aefea4 100644
--- a/middleware/proxy.go
+++ b/middleware/proxy.go
@@ -355,8 +355,14 @@ func (config ProxyConfig) ToMiddleware() (echo.MiddlewareFunc, error) {
 			if req.Header.Get(echo.HeaderXForwardedProto) == "" {
 				req.Header.Set(echo.HeaderXForwardedProto, c.Scheme())
 			}
-			if c.IsWebSocket() && req.Header.Get(echo.HeaderXForwardedFor) == "" { // For HTTP, it is automatically set by Go HTTP reverse proxy.
-				req.Header.Set(echo.HeaderXForwardedFor, c.RealIP())
+			if c.IsWebSocket() { // For HTTP, this is set by Go HTTP reverse proxy.
+				// Append, not set, to preserve the incoming chain from upstream proxies.
+				prior := req.Header[echo.HeaderXForwardedFor]
+				if len(prior) > 0 {
+					req.Header.Set(echo.HeaderXForwardedFor, strings.Join(prior, ", ")+", "+c.RealIP())
+				} else {
+					req.Header.Set(echo.HeaderXForwardedFor, c.RealIP())
+				}
 			}
 
 			retries := config.RetryCount
diff --git a/middleware/proxy_test.go b/middleware/proxy_test.go
index 5494b23ba..5053f7945 100644
--- a/middleware/proxy_test.go
+++ b/middleware/proxy_test.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"net/url"
 	"regexp"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -1164,3 +1165,108 @@ func TestProxyWithConfigWebSocketTLS2NonTLS(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 	assert.Equal(t, sendMsg, recvMsg)
 }
+
+// TestProxyWebSocketXForwardedFor verifies that for WebSocket Upgrade requests,
+// the proxy middleware appends c.RealIP() to any existing X-Forwarded-For chain,
+// mirroring net/http/httputil.(*ProxyRequest).SetXForwarded used by the HTTP path.
+//
+// Regression guard for the previous "set only if empty" behavior, which dropped
+// the proxy's own peer IP from the chain whenever upstream proxies had already
+// added entries.
+func TestProxyWebSocketXForwardedFor(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name        string
+		incomingXFF []string // nil = no incoming X-Forwarded-For header at all
+		wantPrefix  string   // expected join of entries preceding the appended proxy RealIP
+	}{
+		{
+			name:        "no incoming XFF, only proxy RealIP is set",
+			incomingXFF: nil,
+			wantPrefix:  "",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "single-line single-entry XFF is preserved with proxy RealIP appended",
+			incomingXFF: []string{"203.0.113.1"},
+			wantPrefix:  "203.0.113.1",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "single-line comma-separated XFF is preserved with proxy RealIP appended",
+			incomingXFF: []string{"203.0.113.1, 10.0.0.5"},
+			wantPrefix:  "203.0.113.1, 10.0.0.5",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "multi-line XFF (multiple header occurrences) is joined with proxy RealIP appended",
+			incomingXFF: []string{"203.0.113.1", "10.0.0.5"},
+			wantPrefix:  "203.0.113.1, 10.0.0.5",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			// Buffered so the upstream handler never blocks before the client reads.
+			headerCh := make(chan http.Header, 1)
+
+			upstream := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+				wsHandler := func(conn *websocket.Conn) {
+					headerCh <- conn.Request().Header.Clone()
+					defer conn.Close()
+					var msg string
+					if err := websocket.Message.Receive(conn, &msg); err == nil {
+						_ = websocket.Message.Send(conn, msg)
+					}
+				}
+				websocket.Server{Handler: wsHandler}.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+			}))
+			defer upstream.Close()
+
+			tgtURL, _ := url.Parse(upstream.URL)
+			e := echo.New()
+			e.Use(ProxyWithConfig(ProxyConfig{Balancer: NewRandomBalancer([]*ProxyTarget{{URL: tgtURL}})}))
+			proxySrv := httptest.NewServer(e)
+			defer proxySrv.Close()
+
+			proxyWSURL, _ := url.Parse(proxySrv.URL)
+			proxyWSURL.Scheme = "ws"
+
+			origin, _ := url.Parse(proxySrv.URL)
+			cfg := &websocket.Config{
+				Location: proxyWSURL,
+				Origin:   origin,
+				Version:  websocket.ProtocolVersionHybi13,
+				Header:   http.Header{},
+			}
+			for _, v := range tt.incomingXFF {
+				cfg.Header.Add(echo.HeaderXForwardedFor, v)
+			}
+
+			wsConn, err := websocket.DialConfig(cfg)
+			assert.NoError(t, err)
+			defer wsConn.Close()
+
+			assert.NoError(t, websocket.Message.Send(wsConn, "ping"))
+			var got string
+			assert.NoError(t, websocket.Message.Receive(wsConn, &got))
+
+			// The handler sends to headerCh before echoing, so it arrives before Receive returns.
+			captured := <-headerCh
+			xff := captured.Get(echo.HeaderXForwardedFor)
+
+			// The middleware uses Header.Set, so the upstream sees exactly one
+			// X-Forwarded-For header line. Split it back into entries.
+			entries := strings.Split(xff, ", ")
+			assert.NotEmpty(t, entries, "X-Forwarded-For must be set by the proxy middleware")
+
+			// The tail entry is the proxy's c.RealIP(). When the test client dials
+			// via httptest.NewServer the proxy sees 127.0.0.1.
+			tail := entries[len(entries)-1]
+			assert.Equal(t, "127.0.0.1", tail,
+				"proxy RealIP must be appended at the tail of X-Forwarded-For")
+
+			// The remaining entries must equal the prior chain, preserving order
+			// and joining multi-line headers with ", ".
+			gotPrefix := strings.Join(entries[:len(entries)-1], ", ")
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.wantPrefix, gotPrefix,
+				"prior X-Forwarded-For entries must be preserved before the appended RealIP")
+		})
+	}
+}