Systems and methods for removing phase shifts due to hierarchical modulation to improve synchronization and performance in legacy and hierarchical decoders are presented. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, methods of compensating for the effects of hierarchical modulation can, for example, comprise receiving an I,Q symbol that has been further modulated by an overlay phase shift, detecting the direction of the overlay phase shift, de-rotating the symbol by a defined angle corresponding to the overlay phase shift and said direction; and passing the symbol to legacy synchronization and forward error correction decoding stages after said de-rotating. An exemplary receiver can be provided to implement the disclosed methods. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide the simplest solution to compensating for overlay modulation without requiring modification of any proven algorithms within legacy demodulator designs. The methods of exemplary embodiments of the present invention allow for essentially any offset angle used in an overlay modulation scheme to have minimal effect on signal acquisition and performance. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract which will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or the meaning of the claims.