diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/utils/ClusterStateManager.java b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/utils/ClusterStateManager.java
index 7933cd2..2c05c53 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/utils/ClusterStateManager.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/runtime/utils/ClusterStateManager.java
@@ -299,6 +299,8 @@
             }
         }
         clusterActiveLocations.removeAll(pendingRemoval);
+        // for operators attempting to access storage, order the nodes list similar to a nodegroup
+        Collections.sort(clusterActiveLocations);
         clusterPartitionConstraint =
                 new AlgebricksAbsolutePartitionConstraint(clusterActiveLocations.toArray(new String[] {}));
     }