diff --git a/src/tests/ftest/control/dmg_pool_query_test.py b/src/tests/ftest/control/dmg_pool_query_test.py
index ec8c56c6260..8bfabc70bd0 100644
--- a/src/tests/ftest/control/dmg_pool_query_test.py
+++ b/src/tests/ftest/control/dmg_pool_query_test.py
@@ -96,7 +96,8 @@ def test_pool_query_basic(self):
                     "tier_name": "NVME",
                     "size": self.params.get("total", path="/run/exp_vals/nvme/*")
                 }
-            ]
+            ],
+            "mem_file_bytes": 0
         }
 
         self.assertDictEqual(