diff --git a/extensions-core/multi-stage-query/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/msq/exec/ControllerImpl.java b/extensions-core/multi-stage-query/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/msq/exec/ControllerImpl.java
index a308d983eeef..3dc2e099c5e8 100644
--- a/extensions-core/multi-stage-query/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/msq/exec/ControllerImpl.java
+++ b/extensions-core/multi-stage-query/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/msq/exec/ControllerImpl.java
@@ -1771,10 +1771,7 @@ private static QueryDefinition makeQueryDefinition(
       StageDefinition finalShuffleStageDef = queryDef.getFinalStageDefinition();
       if (finalShuffleStageDef.doesSortDuringShuffle()) {
         final QueryDefinitionBuilder builder = QueryDefinition.builder();
-        for (final StageDefinition stageDef : queryDef.getStageDefinitions()) {
-          builder.add(StageDefinition.builder(stageDef));
-        }
-
+        builder.addAll(queryDef);
         builder.add(StageDefinition.builder(queryDef.getNextStageNumber())
                                    .inputs(new StageInputSpec(queryDef.getFinalStageDefinition().getStageNumber()))
                                    .maxWorkerCount(tuningConfig.getMaxNumWorkers())