diff --git a/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/sort/ooc.rs b/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/sort/ooc.rs
index 1c04f67a34a9..48a2f944b87d 100644
--- a/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/sort/ooc.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-pipe/src/executors/sinks/sort/ooc.rs
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ pub(super) fn sort_ooc(
         .unwrap_or(1 << 26);
     let samples = samples.to_physical_repr().into_owned();
     let spill_size = std::cmp::min(
-        memtrack.get_available_latest() / (samples.len() * 3),
+        memtrack.get_available_latest() / (samples.len() * 3 + 1),
         spill_size,
     );