diff --git a/crates/polars-stream/src/nodes/io_sources/parquet/init.rs b/crates/polars-stream/src/nodes/io_sources/parquet/init.rs
index 5759d72a485f..d5345edb9ac8 100644
--- a/crates/polars-stream/src/nodes/io_sources/parquet/init.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-stream/src/nodes/io_sources/parquet/init.rs
@@ -158,15 +158,45 @@ impl ParquetSourceNode {
 
         // Distributes morsels across pipelines. This does not perform any CPU or I/O bound work -
         // it is purely a dispatch loop. Run on the computational executor to reduce context switches.
+        let last_morsel_min_split = self.config.num_pipelines;
         let distribute_task = async_executor::spawn(TaskPriority::High, async move {
             let mut morsel_seq = MorselSeq::default();
-            while let Some(decode_fut) = decode_recv.recv().await {
+
+            // Decode first non-empty morsel.
+            let mut next = None;
+            loop {
+                let Some(decode_fut) = decode_recv.recv().await else {
+                    break;
+                };
                 let df = decode_fut.await?;
                 if df.is_empty() {
                     continue;
                 }
+                next = Some(df);
+                break;
+            }
 
-                for df in split_to_morsels(&df, ideal_morsel_size) {
+            while let Some(df) = next.take() {
+                // Try to decode the next non-empty morsel first, so we know
+                // whether the df is the last morsel.
+                loop {
+                    let Some(decode_fut) = decode_recv.recv().await else {
+                        break;
+                    };
+                    let next_df = decode_fut.await?;
+                    if next_df.is_empty() {
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                    next = Some(next_df);
+                    break;
+                }
+
+                for df in split_to_morsels(
+                    &df,
+                    ideal_morsel_size,
+                    next.is_none(),
+                    last_morsel_min_split,
+                ) {
                     if raw_morsel_sender.send((df, morsel_seq)).await.is_err() {
                         return Ok(());
                     }
@@ -325,23 +355,29 @@ fn filtered_range(exclude: &[usize], len: usize) -> Vec<usize> {
         .collect()
 }
 
-/// Note: The 2nd return is an upper bound on the number of morsels rather than an exact count.
 fn split_to_morsels(
     df: &DataFrame,
     ideal_morsel_size: usize,
+    last_morsel: bool,
+    last_morsel_min_split: usize,
 ) -> impl Iterator<Item = DataFrame> + '_ {
-    let n_morsels = if df.height() > 3 * ideal_morsel_size / 2 {
+    let mut n_morsels = if df.height() > 3 * ideal_morsel_size / 2 {
         // num_rows > (1.5 * ideal_morsel_size)
         (df.height() / ideal_morsel_size).max(2)
     } else {
         1
     };
 
-    let rows_per_morsel = 1 + df.height() / n_morsels;
+    if last_morsel {
+        n_morsels = n_morsels.max(last_morsel_min_split);
+    }
+
+    let rows_per_morsel = df.height().div_ceil(n_morsels).max(1);
 
     (0..i64::try_from(df.height()).unwrap())
         .step_by(rows_per_morsel)
         .map(move |offset| df.slice(offset, rows_per_morsel))
+        .filter(|df| !df.is_empty())
 }
 
 mod tests {