diff --git a/be/src/runtime/query_context.cpp b/be/src/runtime/query_context.cpp
index 493e34e5b5391b4..6a0cf20a4dd3a84 100644
--- a/be/src/runtime/query_context.cpp
+++ b/be/src/runtime/query_context.cpp
@@ -118,11 +118,11 @@ QueryContext::QueryContext(TUniqueId query_id, ExecEnv* exec_env,
 void QueryContext::_init_query_mem_tracker() {
     bool has_query_mem_limit = _query_options.__isset.mem_limit && (_query_options.mem_limit > 0);
     int64_t bytes_limit = has_query_mem_limit ? _query_options.mem_limit : -1;
-    if (bytes_limit > MemInfo::mem_limit()) {
+    if (bytes_limit > MemInfo::mem_limit() || bytes_limit == -1) {
         VLOG_NOTICE << "Query memory limit " << PrettyPrinter::print(bytes_limit, TUnit::BYTES)
                     << " exceeds process memory limit of "
                     << PrettyPrinter::print(MemInfo::mem_limit(), TUnit::BYTES)
-                    << ". Using process memory limit instead";
+                    << " OR is -1. Using process memory limit instead.";
         bytes_limit = MemInfo::mem_limit();
     }
     if (_query_options.query_type == TQueryType::SELECT) {