diff --git a/CHANGELOG.asciidoc b/CHANGELOG.asciidoc
index a2a1403d233..1fd8f3969d8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.asciidoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.asciidoc
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ image::https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apache/tinkerpop/master/docs/static/ima
 * Updated aliased client to pass along options via `with()` when submitting traversals.
 * Upgraded `gremlin-go` to Go 1.21.
 * Upgraded `gremlin-javascript` and `gremlint` to Node 18.17.0.
+* Allowed public access for `serviceName` and `mergedParams` in `CallStep`, and checks on `PartitionStrategy` usage in `MergeStep`.
 
 [[release-3-6-6]]
 === TinkerPop 3.6.6 (November 20, 2023)
diff --git a/gremlin-core/src/main/java/org/apache/tinkerpop/gremlin/process/traversal/step/map/MergeStep.java b/gremlin-core/src/main/java/org/apache/tinkerpop/gremlin/process/traversal/step/map/MergeStep.java
index d1166c98ce8..9b0f12d1d63 100644
--- a/gremlin-core/src/main/java/org/apache/tinkerpop/gremlin/process/traversal/step/map/MergeStep.java
+++ b/gremlin-core/src/main/java/org/apache/tinkerpop/gremlin/process/traversal/step/map/MergeStep.java
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ public abstract class MergeStep<S, E, C> extends FlatMapStep<S, E>
 
     private Parameters parameters = new Parameters();
 
-    private boolean usesPartitionStrategy;
+    protected boolean usesPartitionStrategy;
 
     public MergeStep(final Traversal.Admin traversal, final boolean isStart) {
         this(traversal, isStart, new IdentityTraversal<>());
@@ -182,6 +182,10 @@ public Parameters getParameters() {
         return this.parameters;
     }
 
+    public boolean isUsingPartitionStrategy() {
+        return usesPartitionStrategy;
+    }
+
     @Override
     protected Traverser.Admin<E> processNextStart() {
         // when it's a start step a traverser needs to be created to kick off the traversal.