diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/neighbors/detail/cagra/search_multi_cta.cuh b/cpp/include/raft/neighbors/detail/cagra/search_multi_cta.cuh
index 9a722a6dfe..c6478bef84 100644
--- a/cpp/include/raft/neighbors/detail/cagra/search_multi_cta.cuh
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/neighbors/detail/cagra/search_multi_cta.cuh
@@ -109,9 +109,10 @@ struct search : public search_plan_impl<DATA_T, INDEX_T, DISTANCE_T, SAMPLE_FILT
 
   void set_params(raft::resources const& res, const search_params& params)
   {
-    this->itopk_size   = 32;
-    search_width       = 1;
-    num_cta_per_query  = max(params.search_width, params.itopk_size / 32);
+    constexpr unsigned muti_cta_itopk_size = 32;
+    this->itopk_size                       = muti_cta_itopk_size;
+    search_width                           = 1;
+    num_cta_per_query  = max(params.search_width, params.itopk_size / muti_cta_itopk_size);
     result_buffer_size = itopk_size + search_width * graph_degree;
     typedef raft::Pow2<32> AlignBytes;
     unsigned result_buffer_size_32 = AlignBytes::roundUp(result_buffer_size);
diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/neighbors/detail/cagra/search_plan.cuh b/cpp/include/raft/neighbors/detail/cagra/search_plan.cuh
index 9419385836..a0f346ab51 100644
--- a/cpp/include/raft/neighbors/detail/cagra/search_plan.cuh
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/neighbors/detail/cagra/search_plan.cuh
@@ -38,12 +38,13 @@ struct search_plan_impl_base : public search_params {
   {
     set_max_dim_team(dim);
     if (algo == search_algo::AUTO) {
-      if (itopk_size <= 512) {
+      const size_t num_sm = raft::getMultiProcessorCount();
+      if (itopk_size <= 512 && search_params::max_queries >= num_sm * 2lu) {
         algo = search_algo::SINGLE_CTA;
         RAFT_LOG_DEBUG("Auto strategy: selecting single-cta");
       } else {
-        algo = search_algo::MULTI_KERNEL;
-        RAFT_LOG_DEBUG("Auto strategy: selecting multi-kernel");
+        algo = search_algo::MULTI_CTA;
+        RAFT_LOG_DEBUG("Auto strategy: selecting multi-cta");
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/python/pylibraft/pylibraft/test/test_cagra.py b/python/pylibraft/pylibraft/test/test_cagra.py
index f74fc5ae62..24126c0c5a 100644
--- a/python/pylibraft/pylibraft/test/test_cagra.py
+++ b/python/pylibraft/pylibraft/test/test_cagra.py
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ def test_cagra_index_params(params):
             "search_width": 4,
             "min_iterations": 0,
             "thread_block_size": 0,
-            "hashmap_mode": "small",
+            "hashmap_mode": "auto",
             "hashmap_min_bitlen": 0,
             "hashmap_max_fill_rate": 0.5,
             "num_random_samplings": 1,