diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/terms/TermsAggregatorFactory.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/terms/TermsAggregatorFactory.java
index 1118d6e9bb8..5195fd11978 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/terms/TermsAggregatorFactory.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/terms/TermsAggregatorFactory.java
@@ -137,10 +137,10 @@ public class TermsAggregatorFactory extends ValuesSourceAggregatorFactory<Values
             if (valuesSource instanceof ValuesSource.Bytes.WithOrdinals == false) {
                 execution = ExecutionMode.MAP;
             }
-            final long maxOrd = execution == ExecutionMode.GLOBAL_ORDINALS ? getMaxOrd(valuesSource, searchContext.searcher()) : -1;
             if (execution == null) {
                 execution = ExecutionMode.GLOBAL_ORDINALS;
             }
+            final long maxOrd = execution == ExecutionMode.GLOBAL_ORDINALS ? getMaxOrd(valuesSource, searchContext.searcher()) : -1;
             SubAggCollectionMode cm = collectMode;
             if (cm == null) {
                 cm = SubAggCollectionMode.DEPTH_FIRST;
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/terms/TermsAggregatorTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/terms/TermsAggregatorTests.java
index 57b255a1573..3ea22e456e8 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/terms/TermsAggregatorTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/terms/TermsAggregatorTests.java
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ public class TermsAggregatorTests extends AggregatorTestCase {
             CoreValuesSourceType.BYTES));
     }
 
-    public void testGlobalOrdinalsExecutionHint() throws Exception {
+    public void testUsesGlobalOrdinalsByDefault() throws Exception {
         randomizeAggregatorImpl = false;
 
         Directory directory = newDirectory();
@@ -148,8 +148,7 @@ public class TermsAggregatorTests extends AggregatorTestCase {
         IndexSearcher indexSearcher = new IndexSearcher(indexReader);
 
         TermsAggregationBuilder aggregationBuilder = new TermsAggregationBuilder("_name", ValueType.STRING)
-            .field("string")
-            .collectMode(Aggregator.SubAggCollectionMode.BREADTH_FIRST);
+            .field("string");
         MappedFieldType fieldType = new KeywordFieldMapper.KeywordFieldType();
         fieldType.setName("string");
         fieldType.setHasDocValues(true);
@@ -159,11 +158,29 @@ public class TermsAggregatorTests extends AggregatorTestCase {
         GlobalOrdinalsStringTermsAggregator globalAgg = (GlobalOrdinalsStringTermsAggregator) aggregator;
         assertFalse(globalAgg.remapGlobalOrds());
 
+        // Infers depth_first because the maxOrd is 0 which is less than the size
         aggregationBuilder
             .subAggregation(AggregationBuilders.cardinality("card").field("string"));
         aggregator = createAggregator(aggregationBuilder, indexSearcher, fieldType);
         assertThat(aggregator, instanceOf(GlobalOrdinalsStringTermsAggregator.class));
         globalAgg = (GlobalOrdinalsStringTermsAggregator) aggregator;
+        assertThat(globalAgg.collectMode, equalTo(Aggregator.SubAggCollectionMode.DEPTH_FIRST));
+        assertTrue(globalAgg.remapGlobalOrds());
+
+        aggregationBuilder
+            .collectMode(Aggregator.SubAggCollectionMode.DEPTH_FIRST);
+        aggregator = createAggregator(aggregationBuilder, indexSearcher, fieldType);
+        assertThat(aggregator, instanceOf(GlobalOrdinalsStringTermsAggregator.class));
+        globalAgg = (GlobalOrdinalsStringTermsAggregator) aggregator;
+        assertThat(globalAgg.collectMode, equalTo(Aggregator.SubAggCollectionMode.DEPTH_FIRST));
+        assertTrue(globalAgg.remapGlobalOrds());
+
+        aggregationBuilder
+            .collectMode(Aggregator.SubAggCollectionMode.BREADTH_FIRST);
+        aggregator = createAggregator(aggregationBuilder, indexSearcher, fieldType);
+        assertThat(aggregator, instanceOf(GlobalOrdinalsStringTermsAggregator.class));
+        globalAgg = (GlobalOrdinalsStringTermsAggregator) aggregator;
+        assertThat(globalAgg.collectMode, equalTo(Aggregator.SubAggCollectionMode.BREADTH_FIRST));
         assertFalse(globalAgg.remapGlobalOrds());
 
         aggregationBuilder