diff --git a/crates/nu-command/src/filters/default.rs b/crates/nu-command/src/filters/default.rs
index 1db487cd99..cc6345883e 100644
--- a/crates/nu-command/src/filters/default.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-command/src/filters/default.rs
@@ -67,9 +67,11 @@ fn default(
                 let mut found = false;
 
                 while idx < cols.len() {
-                    if cols[idx] == column.item && matches!(vals[idx], Value::Nothing { .. }) {
-                        vals[idx] = value.clone();
+                    if cols[idx] == column.item {
                         found = true;
+                        if matches!(vals[idx], Value::Nothing { .. }) {
+                            vals[idx] = value.clone();
+                        }
                     }
                     idx += 1;
                 }
diff --git a/src/tests/test_table_operations.rs b/src/tests/test_table_operations.rs
index cd41ace493..ffdbdc0766 100644
--- a/src/tests/test_table_operations.rs
+++ b/src/tests/test_table_operations.rs
@@ -232,6 +232,14 @@ fn length_for_rows() -> TestResult {
     run_test(r#"[[name,age,grade]; [bill,20,a] [a b c]] | length"#, "2")
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn length_defaulted_columns() -> TestResult {
+    run_test(
+        r#"echo [[name, age]; [test, 10]] | default age 11 | get 0 | columns | length"#,
+        "2",
+    )
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn get_fuzzy() -> TestResult {
     run_test("(ls | get -i foo) == $nothing", "true")