diff --git a/storage/merge.go b/storage/merge.go
index 38897449b5..8f2dcb82ef 100644
--- a/storage/merge.go
+++ b/storage/merge.go
@@ -46,9 +46,15 @@ type mergeGenericQuerier struct {
 //
 // In case of overlaps between the data given by primaries' and secondaries' Selects, merge function will be used.
 func NewMergeQuerier(primaries, secondaries []Querier, mergeFn VerticalSeriesMergeFunc) Querier {
-	if len(primaries)+len(secondaries) == 0 {
-		return NoopQuerier()
+	switch {
+	case len(primaries)+len(secondaries) == 0:
+		return noopQuerier{}
+	case len(primaries) == 1 && len(secondaries) == 0:
+		return primaries[0]
+	case len(primaries) == 0 && len(secondaries) == 1:
+		return secondaries[0]
 	}
+
 	queriers := make([]genericQuerier, 0, len(primaries)+len(secondaries))
 	for _, q := range primaries {
 		if _, ok := q.(noopQuerier); !ok && q != nil {
@@ -78,6 +84,15 @@ func NewMergeQuerier(primaries, secondaries []Querier, mergeFn VerticalSeriesMer
 // In case of overlaps between the data given by primaries' and secondaries' Selects, merge function will be used.
 // TODO(bwplotka): Currently merge will compact overlapping chunks with bigger chunk, without limit. Split it: https://github.com/prometheus/tsdb/issues/670
 func NewMergeChunkQuerier(primaries, secondaries []ChunkQuerier, mergeFn VerticalChunkSeriesMergeFunc) ChunkQuerier {
+	switch {
+	case len(primaries) == 0 && len(secondaries) == 0:
+		return noopChunkQuerier{}
+	case len(primaries) == 1 && len(secondaries) == 0:
+		return primaries[0]
+	case len(primaries) == 0 && len(secondaries) == 1:
+		return secondaries[0]
+	}
+
 	queriers := make([]genericQuerier, 0, len(primaries)+len(secondaries))
 	for _, q := range primaries {
 		if _, ok := q.(noopChunkQuerier); !ok && q != nil {
@@ -103,13 +118,6 @@ func NewMergeChunkQuerier(primaries, secondaries []ChunkQuerier, mergeFn Vertica
 
 // Select returns a set of series that matches the given label matchers.
 func (q *mergeGenericQuerier) Select(ctx context.Context, sortSeries bool, hints *SelectHints, matchers ...*labels.Matcher) genericSeriesSet {
-	if len(q.queriers) == 0 {
-		return noopGenericSeriesSet{}
-	}
-	if len(q.queriers) == 1 {
-		return q.queriers[0].Select(ctx, sortSeries, hints, matchers...)
-	}
-
 	seriesSets := make([]genericSeriesSet, 0, len(q.queriers))
 	if !q.concurrentSelect {
 		for _, querier := range q.queriers {
diff --git a/storage/merge_test.go b/storage/merge_test.go
index 05e1c75278..f42869d8ea 100644
--- a/storage/merge_test.go
+++ b/storage/merge_test.go
@@ -180,9 +180,9 @@ func TestMergeQuerierWithChainMerger(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	} {
 		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			var p Querier
+			var p []Querier
 			if tc.primaryQuerierSeries != nil {
-				p = &mockQuerier{toReturn: tc.primaryQuerierSeries}
+				p = append(p, &mockQuerier{toReturn: tc.primaryQuerierSeries})
 			}
 			var qs []Querier
 			for _, in := range tc.querierSeries {
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ func TestMergeQuerierWithChainMerger(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 			qs = append(qs, tc.extraQueriers...)
 
-			mergedQuerier := NewMergeQuerier([]Querier{p}, qs, ChainedSeriesMerge).Select(context.Background(), false, nil)
+			mergedQuerier := NewMergeQuerier(p, qs, ChainedSeriesMerge).Select(context.Background(), false, nil)
 
 			// Get all merged series upfront to make sure there are no incorrectly retained shared
 			// buffers causing bugs.
@@ -355,9 +355,9 @@ func TestMergeChunkQuerierWithNoVerticalChunkSeriesMerger(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	} {
 		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			var p ChunkQuerier
+			var p []ChunkQuerier
 			if tc.primaryChkQuerierSeries != nil {
-				p = &mockChunkQurier{toReturn: tc.primaryChkQuerierSeries}
+				p = append(p, &mockChunkQurier{toReturn: tc.primaryChkQuerierSeries})
 			}
 
 			var qs []ChunkQuerier
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ func TestMergeChunkQuerierWithNoVerticalChunkSeriesMerger(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 			qs = append(qs, tc.extraQueriers...)
 
-			merged := NewMergeChunkQuerier([]ChunkQuerier{p}, qs, NewCompactingChunkSeriesMerger(nil)).Select(context.Background(), false, nil)
+			merged := NewMergeChunkQuerier(p, qs, NewCompactingChunkSeriesMerger(nil)).Select(context.Background(), false, nil)
 			for merged.Next() {
 				require.True(t, tc.expected.Next(), "Expected Next() to be true")
 				actualSeries := merged.At()
@@ -1444,6 +1444,8 @@ func TestMergeGenericQuerierWithSecondaries_ErrorHandling(t *testing.T) {
 		expectedErrs     [4]error
 	}{
 		{
+			// NewMergeQuerier will not create a mergeGenericQuerier
+			// with just one querier inside, but we can test it anyway.
 			name:     "one successful primary querier",
 			queriers: []genericQuerier{&mockGenericQuerier{resp: []string{"a", "b"}, warnings: nil, err: nil}},
 			expectedSelectsSeries: []labels.Labels{
@@ -1552,12 +1554,8 @@ func TestMergeGenericQuerierWithSecondaries_ErrorHandling(t *testing.T) {
 
 				for _, qr := range q.queriers {
 					m := unwrapMockGenericQuerier(t, qr)
-
-					exp := []bool{true}
-					if len(q.queriers) == 1 {
-						exp[0] = false
-					}
-					require.Equal(t, exp, m.sortedSeriesRequested)
+					// mergeGenericQuerier forces all Selects to be sorted.
+					require.Equal(t, []bool{true}, m.sortedSeriesRequested)
 				}
 			})
 			t.Run("LabelNames", func(t *testing.T) {