diff --git a/src/anndata/_core/anndata.py b/src/anndata/_core/anndata.py
index 03ac68dad..fac9b82fc 100644
--- a/src/anndata/_core/anndata.py
+++ b/src/anndata/_core/anndata.py
@@ -1945,6 +1945,7 @@ def write_zarr(
         store: StoreLike,
         *,
         chunks: tuple[int, ...] | None = None,
+        consolidate_metadata: bool = True,
         convert_strings_to_categoricals: bool = True,
     ):
         """\
@@ -1956,6 +1957,8 @@ def write_zarr(
             The filename, a :class:`~typing.MutableMapping`, or a Zarr storage class.
         chunks
             Chunk shape.
+        consolidate_metadata
+            Whether to consolidate Zarr metadata.
         convert_strings_to_categoricals
             Convert string columns to categorical.
         """
@@ -1972,6 +1975,7 @@ def write_zarr(
             store,
             self,
             chunks=chunks,
+            consolidate_metadata=consolidate_metadata,
             convert_strings_to_categoricals=convert_strings_to_categoricals,
         )
 
diff --git a/src/anndata/_io/specs/registry.py b/src/anndata/_io/specs/registry.py
index 51726e4e2..19bcf1d71 100644
--- a/src/anndata/_io/specs/registry.py
+++ b/src/anndata/_io/specs/registry.py
@@ -386,14 +386,8 @@ def write_elem(
         if is_consolidated:
             msg = "Cannot overwrite/edit a store with consolidated metadata"
             raise ValueError(msg)
-        if k == "/":
-            if isinstance(store, ZarrGroup):
-                from zarr.core.sync import sync
 
-                sync(store.store.clear())
-            else:
-                store.clear()
-        elif k in store:
+        if k != "/" and k in store:
             del store[k]
 
         # Normalize array-API (e.g., JAX/CuPy) even if not AnnData
diff --git a/src/anndata/_io/zarr.py b/src/anndata/_io/zarr.py
index 06d16d909..689c9b1a5 100644
--- a/src/anndata/_io/zarr.py
+++ b/src/anndata/_io/zarr.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ def write_zarr(
     adata: AnnData,
     *,
     chunks: tuple[int, ...] | None = None,
+    consolidate_metadata: bool = True,
     convert_strings_to_categoricals: bool = True,
     **ds_kwargs,
 ) -> None:
@@ -55,7 +56,8 @@ def callback(
         write_func(store, elem_name, elem, dataset_kwargs=dataset_kwargs)
 
     write_dispatched(f, "/", adata, callback=callback, dataset_kwargs=ds_kwargs)
-    zarr.consolidate_metadata(f.store)
+    if consolidate_metadata:
+        zarr.consolidate_metadata(f.store)
 
 
 def read_zarr(store: PathLike[str] | str | MutableMapping | zarr.Group) -> AnnData:
@@ -147,7 +149,11 @@ def open_write_group(
 ) -> zarr.Group:
     if "zarr_format" not in kwargs:
         kwargs["zarr_format"] = settings.zarr_write_format
-    return zarr.open_group(store, mode=mode, **kwargs)
+    return (
+        zarr.open_group(store, mode=mode, **kwargs)
+        if not isinstance(store, zarr.Group)
+        else store
+    )
 
 
 def is_group_consolidated(group: zarr.Group) -> bool:
diff --git a/src/anndata/experimental/backed/_io.py b/src/anndata/experimental/backed/_io.py
index 2cf33a918..f468ae850 100644
--- a/src/anndata/experimental/backed/_io.py
+++ b/src/anndata/experimental/backed/_io.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 from ..._core.xarray import requires_xarray
 from ..._settings import settings
 from ...compat import ZarrGroup
-from ...utils import get_literal_members, warn
+from ...utils import get_literal_members
 from .. import read_dispatched
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -106,13 +106,15 @@ def read_lazy(
         import zarr
 
         if not isinstance(store, ZarrGroup):
-            try:
-                f = zarr.open_consolidated(store, mode="r")
-            except ValueError:
-                msg = "Did not read zarr as consolidated. Consider consolidating your metadata."
-                warn(msg, UserWarning)
-                has_keys = False
-                f = zarr.open_group(store, mode="r")
+            from anndata._io.zarr import is_group_consolidated
+
+            has_keys = is_group_consolidated()
+            f = (
+                zarr.open_consolidated(store, mode="r")
+                if has_keys
+                else zarr.open_group(store, mode="r")
+            )
+
         else:
             f = store
     elif is_store_arg_h5_store:
diff --git a/tests/test_readwrite.py b/tests/test_readwrite.py
index 3359b2ff8..146748e82 100644
--- a/tests/test_readwrite.py
+++ b/tests/test_readwrite.py
@@ -967,6 +967,7 @@ def test_write_elem_consolidated(tmp_path: Path):
 
 @pytest.mark.zarr_io
 def test_write_elem_version_mismatch(tmp_path: Path):
+    tmp_path = Path("foo")
     zarr_path = tmp_path / "foo.zarr"
     adata = ad.AnnData(np.ones((10, 10)))
     g = zarr.open_group(
@@ -977,3 +978,49 @@ def test_write_elem_version_mismatch(tmp_path: Path):
     ad.io.write_elem(g, "/", adata)
     adata_roundtripped = ad.read_zarr(g)
     assert_equal(adata_roundtripped, adata)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.zarr_io
+def test_write_zarr_store(tmp_path: Path):
+    zarr_path = tmp_path / "foo.zarr"
+    adata = ad.AnnData(np.ones((10, 10)))
+    g = zarr.open_group(
+        zarr_path,
+        mode="w",
+    )
+    adata.write_zarr(g)
+    adata_roundtripped = ad.read_zarr(g)
+    assert_equal(adata_roundtripped, adata)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.zarr_io
+def test_write_zarr_store_overwrite(tmp_path: Path):
+    zarr_path = tmp_path / "foo.zarr"
+    adata1 = ad.AnnData(np.ones((10, 10)))
+    g = zarr.open_group(
+        zarr_path,
+        mode="w",
+    )
+    adata1.write_zarr(g, consolidate_metadata=False)
+    adata2 = ad.AnnData(np.zeros((5, 5)))
+
+    adata2.write_zarr(g, consolidate_metadata=False)
+    adata_roundtripped = ad.read_zarr(g)
+    assert_equal(adata_roundtripped, adata2)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.zarr_io
+def test_write_zarr_store_separate_groups(tmp_path: Path):
+    zarr_path = tmp_path / "foo.zarr"
+    adata1 = ad.AnnData(np.ones((10, 10)))
+    adata2 = ad.AnnData(np.zeros((5, 5)))
+    g = zarr.open_group(
+        zarr_path,
+        mode="w",
+    )
+    g1 = g.create_group("g1")
+    g2 = g.create_group("g2")
+    adata1.write_zarr(g1, consolidate_metadata=False)
+    adata2.write_zarr(g2, consolidate_metadata=False)
+    assert_equal(ad.read_zarr(g1), adata1)
+    assert_equal(ad.read_zarr(g2), adata2)