diff --git a/pinot-core/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/core/operator/combine/MinMaxValueBasedSelectionOrderByCombineOperator.java b/pinot-core/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/core/operator/combine/MinMaxValueBasedSelectionOrderByCombineOperator.java
index f157ce61581e..e818a6dde723 100644
--- a/pinot-core/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/core/operator/combine/MinMaxValueBasedSelectionOrderByCombineOperator.java
+++ b/pinot-core/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/core/operator/combine/MinMaxValueBasedSelectionOrderByCombineOperator.java
@@ -60,21 +60,22 @@ public class MinMaxValueBasedSelectionOrderByCombineOperator extends BaseCombine
 
   private static final String EXPLAIN_NAME = "COMBINE_SELECT_ORDERBY_MINMAX";
 
-  // For min/max value based combine, when a thread detects that no more segments need to be processed, it inserts this
-  // special IntermediateResultsBlock into the BlockingQueue to awake the main thread
-  private static final BaseResultsBlock LAST_RESULTS_BLOCK =
+  // For min/max value based combine, when a thread detects that no more segment needs to be processed, it inserts this
+  // special results block, which can be skipped during the merge phase
+  private static final BaseResultsBlock EMPTY_RESULTS_BLOCK =
       new SelectionResultsBlock(new DataSchema(new String[0], new DataSchema.ColumnDataType[0]),
           Collections.emptyList());
 
-  // Use an AtomicInteger to track the number of operators skipped (no result inserted into the BlockingQueue)
-  private final AtomicInteger _numOperatorsSkipped = new AtomicInteger();
-  private final AtomicReference<Comparable> _globalBoundaryValue = new AtomicReference<>();
+  // Use an AtomicInteger to track the end operator id, beyond which no operator needs to be processed
+  private final AtomicInteger _endOperatorId;
   private final int _numRowsToKeep;
   private final List<MinMaxValueContext> _minMaxValueContexts;
+  private final AtomicReference<Comparable> _globalBoundaryValue = new AtomicReference<>();
 
   MinMaxValueBasedSelectionOrderByCombineOperator(List<Operator> operators, QueryContext queryContext,
       ExecutorService executorService) {
     super(operators, queryContext, executorService);
+    _endOperatorId = new AtomicInteger(_numOperators);
     _numRowsToKeep = queryContext.getLimit() + queryContext.getOffset();
 
     List<OrderByExpressionContext> orderByExpressions = _queryContext.getOrderByExpressions();
@@ -146,6 +147,11 @@ protected void processSegments() {
 
     int operatorId;
     while ((operatorId = _nextOperatorId.getAndIncrement()) < _numOperators) {
+      if (operatorId >= _endOperatorId.get()) {
+        _blockingQueue.offer(EMPTY_RESULTS_BLOCK);
+        continue;
+      }
+
       // Calculate the boundary value from global boundary and thread boundary
       Comparable boundaryValue = _globalBoundaryValue.get();
       if (boundaryValue == null) {
@@ -173,9 +179,9 @@ protected void processSegments() {
           if (minMaxValueContext._minValue != null) {
             int result = minMaxValueContext._minValue.compareTo(boundaryValue);
             if (result > 0 || (result == 0 && numOrderByExpressions == 1)) {
-              _numOperatorsSkipped.getAndAdd((_numOperators - operatorId - 1) / _numTasks);
-              _blockingQueue.offer(LAST_RESULTS_BLOCK);
-              return;
+              _endOperatorId.set(operatorId);
+              _blockingQueue.offer(EMPTY_RESULTS_BLOCK);
+              continue;
             }
           }
         } else {
@@ -184,9 +190,9 @@ protected void processSegments() {
           if (minMaxValueContext._maxValue != null) {
             int result = minMaxValueContext._maxValue.compareTo(boundaryValue);
             if (result < 0 || (result == 0 && numOrderByExpressions == 1)) {
-              _numOperatorsSkipped.getAndAdd((_numOperators - operatorId - 1) / _numTasks);
-              _blockingQueue.offer(LAST_RESULTS_BLOCK);
-              return;
+              _endOperatorId.set(operatorId);
+              _blockingQueue.offer(EMPTY_RESULTS_BLOCK);
+              continue;
             }
           }
         }
@@ -248,7 +254,7 @@ protected BaseResultsBlock mergeResults()
     SelectionResultsBlock mergedBlock = null;
     int numBlocksMerged = 0;
     long endTimeMs = _queryContext.getEndTimeMs();
-    while (numBlocksMerged + _numOperatorsSkipped.get() < _numOperators) {
+    while (numBlocksMerged < _numOperators) {
       BaseResultsBlock blockToMerge =
           _blockingQueue.poll(endTimeMs - System.currentTimeMillis(), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
       if (blockToMerge == null) {
@@ -258,6 +264,10 @@ protected BaseResultsBlock mergeResults()
         return new ExceptionResultsBlock(QueryException.getException(QueryException.EXECUTION_TIMEOUT_ERROR,
             new TimeoutException("Timed out while polling results block")));
       }
+      if (blockToMerge == EMPTY_RESULTS_BLOCK) {
+        numBlocksMerged++;
+        continue;
+      }
       if (blockToMerge.getProcessingExceptions() != null) {
         // Caught exception while processing segment, skip merging the remaining results blocks and directly return
         // the exception
@@ -266,9 +276,7 @@ protected BaseResultsBlock mergeResults()
       if (mergedBlock == null) {
         mergedBlock = (SelectionResultsBlock) blockToMerge;
       } else {
-        if (blockToMerge != LAST_RESULTS_BLOCK) {
-          mergeResultsBlocks(mergedBlock, (SelectionResultsBlock) blockToMerge);
-        }
+        mergeResultsBlocks(mergedBlock, (SelectionResultsBlock) blockToMerge);
       }
       numBlocksMerged++;