diff --git a/django/db/migrations/executor.py b/django/db/migrations/executor.py
index 57b1e297a54..d1da524aeb2 100644
--- a/django/db/migrations/executor.py
+++ b/django/db/migrations/executor.py
@@ -74,20 +74,27 @@ class MigrationExecutor(object):
         migrations_to_run = {m[0] for m in plan}
         # Create the forwards plan Django would follow on an empty database
         full_plan = self.migration_plan(self.loader.graph.leaf_nodes(), clean_start=True)
-        # Holds all states right before and right after a migration is applied
+        # Holds all states right before a migration is applied
         # if the migration is being run.
         states = {}
         state = ProjectState(real_apps=list(self.loader.unmigrated_apps))
         if self.progress_callback:
             self.progress_callback("render_start")
-        state.apps  # Render all real_apps -- performance critical
+        # Phase 1 -- Store all project states of migrations right before they
+        # are applied. The first migration that will be applied in phase 2 will
+        # trigger the rendering of the initial project state. From this time on
+        # models will be recursively reloaded as explained in
+        # `django.db.migrations.state.get_related_models_recursive()`.
+        for migration, _ in full_plan:
+            do_run = migration in migrations_to_run
+            if do_run:
+                if 'apps' not in state.__dict__:
+                    state.apps  # Render all real_apps -- performance critical
+                states[migration] = state.clone()
+            # Only preserve the state if the migration is being run later
+            state = migration.mutate_state(state, preserve=do_run)
         if self.progress_callback:
             self.progress_callback("render_success")
-        # Phase 1 -- Store all required states
-        for migration, _ in full_plan:
-            if migration in migrations_to_run:
-                states[migration] = state.clone()
-            state = migration.mutate_state(state)  # state is cloned inside
         # Phase 2 -- Run the migrations
         for migration, backwards in plan:
             if not backwards:
diff --git a/django/db/migrations/graph.py b/django/db/migrations/graph.py
index 250c11351d9..b47c768de80 100644
--- a/django/db/migrations/graph.py
+++ b/django/db/migrations/graph.py
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ class MigrationGraph(object):
                     plan.append(migration)
         project_state = ProjectState(real_apps=real_apps)
         for node in plan:
-            project_state = self.nodes[node].mutate_state(project_state)
+            project_state = self.nodes[node].mutate_state(project_state, preserve=False)
         return project_state
 
     def __contains__(self, node):
diff --git a/django/db/migrations/migration.py b/django/db/migrations/migration.py
index 1c3f560d6e7..1e84429e9b7 100644
--- a/django/db/migrations/migration.py
+++ b/django/db/migrations/migration.py
@@ -69,12 +69,16 @@ class Migration(object):
     def __hash__(self):
         return hash("%s.%s" % (self.app_label, self.name))
 
-    def mutate_state(self, project_state):
+    def mutate_state(self, project_state, preserve=True):
         """
         Takes a ProjectState and returns a new one with the migration's
-        operations applied to it.
+        operations applied to it. Preserves the original object state by
+        default and will return a mutated state from a copy.
         """
-        new_state = project_state.clone()
+        new_state = project_state
+        if preserve:
+            new_state = project_state.clone()
+
         for operation in self.operations:
             operation.state_forwards(self.app_label, new_state)
         return new_state
diff --git a/django/db/migrations/state.py b/django/db/migrations/state.py
index 7c5f9ed7769..136b63ae8e9 100644
--- a/django/db/migrations/state.py
+++ b/django/db/migrations/state.py
@@ -35,6 +35,12 @@ def get_related_models_recursive(model):
     """
     Returns all models that have a direct or indirect relationship
     to the given model.
+
+    Relationships are either defined by explicit relational fields, like
+    ForeignKey, ManyToManyField or OneToOneField, or by inheriting from another
+    model (a superclass is related to its subclasses, but not vice versa). Note,
+    however, that a model inheriting from a concrete model is also related to
+    its superclass through the implicit *_ptr OneToOneField on the subclass.
     """
     def _related_models(m):
         return [