diff --git a/src/wp-includes/rest-api.php b/src/wp-includes/rest-api.php
index 5a28f4f1d4..0498e90f47 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/rest-api.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/rest-api.php
@@ -2520,11 +2520,8 @@ function rest_preload_api_request( $memo, $path ) {
 	$response = rest_do_request( $request );
 	if ( 200 === $response->status ) {
 		$server = rest_get_server();
-		$data   = (array) $response->get_data();
-		$links  = $server::get_compact_response_links( $response );
-		if ( ! empty( $links ) ) {
-			$data['_links'] = $links;
-		}
+		$embed  = $request->has_param( '_embed' ) ? rest_parse_embed_param( $request['_embed'] ) : false;
+		$data   = (array) $server->response_to_data( $response, $embed );
 
 		if ( 'OPTIONS' === $method ) {
 			$response = rest_send_allow_header( $response, $server, $request );
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api.php
index e4532289ff..b7d5c3699a 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api.php
@@ -2328,4 +2328,56 @@ class Tests_REST_API extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 			),
 		);
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 51722
+	 * @dataProvider data_rest_preload_api_request_embeds_links
+	 *
+	 * @param string   $embed        The embed parameter.
+	 * @param string[] $expected     The list of link relations that should be embedded.
+	 * @param string[] $not_expected The list of link relations that should not be embedded.
+	 */
+	public function test_rest_preload_api_request_embeds_links( $embed, $expected, $not_expected ) {
+		wp_set_current_user( 1 );
+		$post_id = self::factory()->post->create();
+		self::factory()->comment->create_post_comments( $post_id );
+
+		$url           = sprintf( '/wp/v2/posts/%d?%s', $post_id, $embed );
+		$preload_paths = array( $url );
+
+		$preload_data = array_reduce(
+			$preload_paths,
+			'rest_preload_api_request',
+			array()
+		);
+
+		$this->assertSame( array_keys( $preload_data ), $preload_paths );
+		$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'body', $preload_data[ $url ] );
+		$this->assertArrayHasKey( '_links', $preload_data[ $url ]['body'] );
+
+		if ( $expected ) {
+			$this->assertArrayHasKey( '_embedded', $preload_data[ $url ]['body'] );
+		} else {
+			$this->assertArrayNotHasKey( '_embedded', $preload_data[ $url ]['body'] );
+		}
+
+		foreach ( $expected as $rel ) {
+			$this->assertArrayHasKey( $rel, $preload_data[ $url ]['body']['_embedded'] );
+		}
+
+		foreach ( $not_expected as $rel ) {
+			$this->assertArrayNotHasKey( $rel, $preload_data[ $url ]['body']['_embedded'] );
+		}
+	}
+
+	public function data_rest_preload_api_request_embeds_links() {
+		return array(
+			array( '_embed=wp:term,author', array( 'wp:term', 'author' ), array( 'replies' ) ),
+			array( '_embed[]=wp:term&_embed[]=author', array( 'wp:term', 'author' ), array( 'replies' ) ),
+			array( '_embed', array( 'wp:term', 'author', 'replies' ), array() ),
+			array( '_embed=1', array( 'wp:term', 'author', 'replies' ), array() ),
+			array( '_embed=true', array( 'wp:term', 'author', 'replies' ), array() ),
+			array( '', array(), array() ),
+		);
+	}
 }