diff --git a/dlt/sources/sql_database/helpers.py b/dlt/sources/sql_database/helpers.py
index d6ac767438..0a57eff904 100644
--- a/dlt/sources/sql_database/helpers.py
+++ b/dlt/sources/sql_database/helpers.py
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@
 )
 import operator
 
-from sqlalchemy import and_, or_
-
 import dlt
 from dlt.common.configuration.specs import (
     BaseConfiguration,
@@ -38,7 +36,7 @@
     TTypeAdapter,
 )
 
-from dlt.common.libs.sql_alchemy import Engine, CompileError, create_engine
+from dlt.common.libs.sql_alchemy import Engine, CompileError, create_engine, sa
 
 
 TableBackend = Literal["sqlalchemy", "pyarrow", "pandas", "connectorx"]
@@ -99,15 +97,20 @@ def _make_query(self) -> SelectAny:
         else:  # Custom last_value, load everything and let incremental handle filtering
             return query  # type: ignore[no-any-return]
 
+        where_clause = True
         if self.last_value is not None:
-            where_and_clauses = [filter_op(self.cursor_column, self.last_value)]
+            where_clause = filter_op(self.cursor_column, self.last_value)
             if self.end_value is not None:
-                where_and_clauses.append(filter_op_end(self.cursor_column, self.end_value))
-            where_clause = and_(*where_and_clauses)
+                where_clause = sa.and_(
+                    where_clause, filter_op_end(self.cursor_column, self.end_value)
+                )
+
             if self.on_cursor_value_missing == "include":
-                where_clause = or_(where_clause, self.cursor_column.is_(None))
-            elif self.on_cursor_value_missing == "exclude":
-                where_clause = and_(where_clause, self.cursor_column.isnot(None))
+                where_clause = sa.or_(where_clause, self.cursor_column.is_(None))
+        if self.on_cursor_value_missing == "exclude":
+            where_clause = sa.and_(where_clause, self.cursor_column.isnot(None))
+
+        if where_clause is not True:
             query = query.where(where_clause)
 
         # generate order by from declared row order
diff --git a/tests/load/sources/sql_database/test_helpers.py b/tests/load/sources/sql_database/test_helpers.py
index 3fb62ad4f3..4748f226a9 100644
--- a/tests/load/sources/sql_database/test_helpers.py
+++ b/tests/load/sources/sql_database/test_helpers.py
@@ -147,6 +147,44 @@ class MockIncremental:
     assert query.compare(expected)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("backend", ["sqlalchemy", "pyarrow", "pandas", "connectorx"])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("cursor_value_missing", ["include", "exclude"])
+def test_make_query_incremental_on_cursor_value_missing_no_last_value(
+    sql_source_db: SQLAlchemySourceDB,
+    backend: TableBackend,
+    cursor_value_missing: str,
+) -> None:
+    class MockIncremental:
+        last_value = None
+        last_value_func = max
+        cursor_path = "created_at"
+        row_order = "asc"
+        end_value = None
+        on_cursor_value_missing = cursor_value_missing
+
+    table = sql_source_db.get_table("chat_message")
+    loader = TableLoader(
+        sql_source_db.engine,
+        backend,
+        table,
+        table_to_columns(table),
+        incremental=MockIncremental(),  # type: ignore[arg-type]
+    )
+
+    query = loader.make_query()
+
+    if cursor_value_missing == "include":
+        # There is no where clause for include without last
+        expected = table.select().order_by(table.c.created_at.asc())
+    else:
+        # exclude always has a where clause
+        expected = (
+            table.select().order_by(table.c.created_at.asc()).where(table.c.created_at.isnot(None))
+        )
+
+    assert query.compare(expected)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("backend", ["sqlalchemy", "pyarrow", "pandas", "connectorx"])
 def test_make_query_incremental_end_value(
     sql_source_db: SQLAlchemySourceDB, backend: TableBackend