diff --git a/cpp/tests/streams/merge_test.cpp b/cpp/tests/streams/merge_test.cpp
index cd26f7444a5..cf5b20ef09e 100644
--- a/cpp/tests/streams/merge_test.cpp
+++ b/cpp/tests/streams/merge_test.cpp
@@ -100,7 +100,8 @@ TEST_F(MergeTest, KeysWithNulls)
   cudf::test::fixed_width_column_wrapper<int32_t> data2(data_iter, data_iter + nrows, valids2);
   auto all_data = cudf::concatenate(std::vector<cudf::column_view>{{data1, data2}});
 
-  std::vector<cudf::order> column_orders{cudf::order::ASCENDING, cudf::order::DESCENDING};
+  std::vector<cudf::order> column_orders{
+    cudf::order::ASCENDING, cudf::order::DESCENDING, cudf::test::get_default_stream()};
   std::vector<cudf::null_order> null_precedences{cudf::null_order::AFTER, cudf::null_order::BEFORE};
 
   for (auto co : column_orders)