diff --git a/test/mpi/impls/mpich/cuda/stream.cu b/test/mpi/impls/mpich/cuda/stream.cu
index 1cb62c83982..08964211411 100644
--- a/test/mpi/impls/mpich/cuda/stream.cu
+++ b/test/mpi/impls/mpich/cuda/stream.cu
@@ -36,10 +36,22 @@ void saxpy(int n, float a, float *x, float *y)
   if (i < n) y[i] = a*x[i] + y[i];
 }
 
-int main(void)
+static int need_progress_thread = 0;
+static void parse_args(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+    for (int i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
+        if (strcmp(argv[i], "-progress-thread") == 0) {
+            need_progress_thread = 1;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     int errs = 0;
 
+    parse_args(argc, argv);
+
     cudaStream_t stream;
     cudaStreamCreate(&stream);
 
@@ -71,6 +83,10 @@ int main(void)
 
     MPI_Info_free(&info);
 
+    if (need_progress_thread) {
+        MPIX_Start_progress_thread(mpi_stream);
+    }
+
     MPI_Comm stream_comm;
     MPIX_Stream_comm_create(MPI_COMM_WORLD, mpi_stream, &stream_comm);
 
@@ -139,6 +155,9 @@ int main(void)
         errs += check_result(y);
     }
 
+    if (need_progress_thread) {
+        MPIX_Stop_progress_thread(mpi_stream);
+    }
 
     MPI_Comm_free(&stream_comm);
     MPIX_Stream_free(&mpi_stream);
diff --git a/test/mpi/impls/mpich/cuda/testlist b/test/mpi/impls/mpich/cuda/testlist
index 67d29c2f951..006e11573b6 100644
--- a/test/mpi/impls/mpich/cuda/testlist
+++ b/test/mpi/impls/mpich/cuda/testlist
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 saxpy 2
 stream 2 env=MPIR_CVAR_CH4_RESERVE_VCIS=1
+stream 2 env=MPIR_CVAR_CH4_RESERVE_VCIS=1 env=MPIR_CVAR_CH4_ENABLE_STREAM_WORKQ=1 env=MPIR_CVAR_GPU_HAS_WAIT_KERNEL=1 arg=-progress_thread
 stream_allred 4 env=MPIR_CVAR_CH4_RESERVE_VCIS=1