diff --git a/src/dbnode/persist/fs/streaming_write.go b/src/dbnode/persist/fs/streaming_write.go
index 010021a464..4120ff4711 100644
--- a/src/dbnode/persist/fs/streaming_write.go
+++ b/src/dbnode/persist/fs/streaming_write.go
@@ -52,11 +52,14 @@ type StreamingWriter interface {
 
 // StreamingWriterOpenOptions in the options for the StreamingWriter.
 type StreamingWriterOpenOptions struct {
-	NamespaceID         ident.ID
-	ShardID             uint32
-	BlockStart          time.Time
-	BlockSize           time.Duration
-	VolumeIndex         int
+	NamespaceID ident.ID
+	ShardID     uint32
+	BlockStart  time.Time
+	BlockSize   time.Duration
+	VolumeIndex int
+
+	// PlannedRecordsCount is an estimate of the number of series to be written.
+	// Must be greater than 0.
 	PlannedRecordsCount uint
 }
 
@@ -83,6 +86,11 @@ func NewStreamingWriter(opts Options) (StreamingWriter, error) {
 }
 
 func (w *streamingWriter) Open(opts StreamingWriterOpenOptions) error {
+	if opts.PlannedRecordsCount <= 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf(
+			"PlannedRecordsCount must be positive, got %d", opts.PlannedRecordsCount)
+	}
+
 	writerOpts := DataWriterOpenOptions{
 		BlockSize: opts.BlockSize,
 		Identifier: FileSetFileIdentifier{
@@ -105,9 +113,10 @@ func (w *streamingWriter) Open(opts StreamingWriterOpenOptions) error {
 	w.bloomFilter = bloom.NewBloomFilter(m, k)
 
 	summariesApprox := float64(opts.PlannedRecordsCount) * w.options.IndexSummariesPercent()
-	w.summaryEvery = 0
+	w.summaryEvery = 1
 	if summariesApprox > 0 {
-		w.summaryEvery = int64(math.Floor(float64(opts.PlannedRecordsCount) / summariesApprox))
+		w.summaryEvery = int64(math.Max(1,
+			math.Floor(float64(opts.PlannedRecordsCount)/summariesApprox)))
 	}
 
 	if err := w.writer.Open(writerOpts); err != nil {
@@ -182,7 +191,8 @@ func (w *streamingWriter) writeIndexRelated(
 	// time window
 	w.bloomFilter.Add(id)
 
-	if entry.index%w.summaryEvery == 0 {
+	writeSummary := w.summaryEvery == 0 || entry.index%w.summaryEvery == 0
+	if writeSummary {
 		// Capture the offset for when we write this summary back, only capture
 		// for every summary we'll actually write to avoid a few memcopies
 		entry.indexFileOffset = w.indexOffset
@@ -194,7 +204,7 @@ func (w *streamingWriter) writeIndexRelated(
 	}
 	w.indexOffset += length
 
-	if entry.index%w.summaryEvery == 0 {
+	if writeSummary {
 		err = w.writer.writeSummariesEntry(id, entry)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
diff --git a/src/dbnode/persist/fs/streaming_write_test.go b/src/dbnode/persist/fs/streaming_write_test.go
index bb43793853..6482f2a2d2 100644
--- a/src/dbnode/persist/fs/streaming_write_test.go
+++ b/src/dbnode/persist/fs/streaming_write_test.go
@@ -60,14 +60,14 @@ func newTestStreamingWriter(
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	writerOpenOpts := StreamingWriterOpenOptions{
-			NamespaceID: testNs1ID,
-			ShardID:     shard,
-			BlockStart:  timestamp,
-			BlockSize:   testBlockSize,
+		NamespaceID: testNs1ID,
+		ShardID:     shard,
+		BlockStart:  timestamp,
+		BlockSize:   testBlockSize,
 
-			VolumeIndex:         nextVersion,
-			PlannedRecordsCount: plannedEntries,
-		}
+		VolumeIndex:         nextVersion,
+		PlannedRecordsCount: plannedEntries,
+	}
 	err = writer.Open(writerOpenOpts)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ func TestReadStreamingWriteEmptyFileset(t *testing.T) {
 	filePathPrefix := filepath.Join(dir, "")
 	defer os.RemoveAll(dir)
 
-	w := newTestStreamingWriter(t, filePathPrefix, 0, testWriterStart, 0, 0)
+	w := newTestStreamingWriter(t, filePathPrefix, 0, testWriterStart, 0, 1)
 	err := streamingWriteTestData(t, w, testWriterStart, nil)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	err = w.Close()
@@ -184,12 +184,31 @@ func TestReadStreamingWriteEmptyFileset(t *testing.T) {
 	readTestData(t, r, 0, testWriterStart, nil)
 }
 
+func TestReadStreamingWriteReject0PlannedRecordsCount(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := createTempDir(t)
+	filePathPrefix := filepath.Join(dir, "")
+	defer os.RemoveAll(dir) // nolint: errcheck
+
+	writer, err := NewStreamingWriter(testDefaultOpts.
+		SetFilePathPrefix(filePathPrefix).
+		SetWriterBufferSize(testWriterBufferSize))
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	writerOpenOpts := StreamingWriterOpenOptions{
+		NamespaceID:         testNs1ID,
+		BlockSize:           testBlockSize,
+		PlannedRecordsCount: 0,
+	}
+	err = writer.Open(writerOpenOpts)
+	require.EqualError(t, err, "PlannedRecordsCount must be positive, got 0")
+}
+
 func TestStreamingWriterAbort(t *testing.T) {
 	dir := createTempDir(t)
 	filePathPrefix := filepath.Join(dir, "")
 	defer os.RemoveAll(dir)
 
-	w := newTestStreamingWriter(t, filePathPrefix, 0, testWriterStart, 0, 0)
+	w := newTestStreamingWriter(t, filePathPrefix, 0, testWriterStart, 0, 1)
 	err := streamingWriteTestData(t, w, testWriterStart, nil)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	err = w.Abort()
diff --git a/src/dbnode/storage/shard.go b/src/dbnode/storage/shard.go
index 56d61d776d..f8e39f7084 100644
--- a/src/dbnode/storage/shard.go
+++ b/src/dbnode/storage/shard.go
@@ -2688,8 +2688,8 @@ func (s *dbShard) AggregateTiles(
 	}()
 
 	var (
-		sourceNsID = sourceNs.ID()
-		maxEntries = 0
+		sourceNsID         = sourceNs.ID()
+		plannedSeriesCount = 1
 	)
 
 	for sourceBlockPos, blockReader := range blockReaders {
@@ -2718,8 +2718,8 @@ func (s *dbShard) AggregateTiles(
 		}
 
 		entries := blockReader.Entries()
-		if entries > maxEntries {
-			maxEntries = entries
+		if entries > plannedSeriesCount {
+			plannedSeriesCount = entries
 		}
 
 		openBlockReaders = append(openBlockReaders, blockReader)
@@ -2737,7 +2737,7 @@ func (s *dbShard) AggregateTiles(
 		BlockStart:          opts.Start,
 		BlockSize:           s.namespace.Options().RetentionOptions().BlockSize(),
 		VolumeIndex:         nextVolume,
-		PlannedRecordsCount: uint(maxEntries),
+		PlannedRecordsCount: uint(plannedSeriesCount),
 	}
 	if err = writer.Open(writerOpenOpts); err != nil {
 		return 0, err