diff --git a/astacus/coordinator/plugins/clickhouse/steps.py b/astacus/coordinator/plugins/clickhouse/steps.py
index 8a233b71..0d2d414e 100644
--- a/astacus/coordinator/plugins/clickhouse/steps.py
+++ b/astacus/coordinator/plugins/clickhouse/steps.py
@@ -516,6 +516,7 @@ def _create_dbs(client: ClickHouseClient) -> Iterator[Awaitable[None]]:
             b"SET allow_experimental_object_type=true",
             b"SET allow_suspicious_codecs=true",
             b"SET allow_suspicious_low_cardinality_types=true",
+            b"SET merge_tree_allow_nullable_key=true",
             # If a table was created with flatten_nested=0, we must be careful to not re-create the
             # table with flatten_nested=1, since this would recreate the table with a different schema.
             # If a table was created with flatten_nested=1, the query in system.tables.create_table_query
diff --git a/tests/integration/coordinator/plugins/clickhouse/test_plugin.py b/tests/integration/coordinator/plugins/clickhouse/test_plugin.py
index 2119098f..6f8d4bce 100644
--- a/tests/integration/coordinator/plugins/clickhouse/test_plugin.py
+++ b/tests/integration/coordinator/plugins/clickhouse/test_plugin.py
@@ -146,6 +146,12 @@ async def setup_cluster_content(clients: List[HttpClickHouseClient], use_named_c
         b"SETTINGS index_granularity=8192 "
         b"SETTINGS allow_experimental_object_type=1"
     )
+    # test that we can re-create a table requiring custom merge tree settings.
+    await clients[0].execute(
+        b"CREATE TABLE default.with_nullable_key (thekey Nullable(UInt32), thedata String) "
+        b"ENGINE = ReplicatedMergeTree ORDER BY (thekey) "
+        b"SETTINGS allow_nullable_key=true"
+    )
     # test that we correctly restore nested fields
     await clients[0].execute(
         b"CREATE TABLE default.nested_not_flatten (thekey UInt32, thedata Nested(a UInt32, b UInt32)) "
@@ -267,6 +273,13 @@ async def test_restores_table_with_experimental_types(restored_cluster: List[Cli
         assert response == expected_data
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_restores_table_with_nullable_key(restored_cluster: List[ClickHouseClient]) -> None:
+    for client in restored_cluster:
+        response = await client.execute(b"SELECT thekey, thedata FROM default.with_nullable_key ORDER BY thekey")
+        assert response == []
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_restores_table_with_nested_fields(restored_cluster: List[ClickHouseClient]) -> None:
     client = restored_cluster[0]
diff --git a/tests/unit/coordinator/plugins/clickhouse/test_steps.py b/tests/unit/coordinator/plugins/clickhouse/test_steps.py
index 765319c0..3de26df7 100644
--- a/tests/unit/coordinator/plugins/clickhouse/test_steps.py
+++ b/tests/unit/coordinator/plugins/clickhouse/test_steps.py
@@ -788,6 +788,7 @@ async def test_creates_all_replicated_databases_and_tables_in_manifest() -> None
         b"SET allow_experimental_object_type=true",
         b"SET allow_suspicious_codecs=true",
         b"SET allow_suspicious_low_cardinality_types=true",
+        b"SET merge_tree_allow_nullable_key=true",
         b"SET flatten_nested=0",
         b"CREATE TABLE db-one.table-uno ...",
         b"CREATE TABLE db-one.table-dos ...",
@@ -846,6 +847,7 @@ async def test_creates_all_replicated_databases_and_tables_in_manifest_with_cust
         b"SET allow_experimental_object_type=true",
         b"SET allow_suspicious_codecs=true",
         b"SET allow_suspicious_low_cardinality_types=true",
+        b"SET merge_tree_allow_nullable_key=true",
         b"SET flatten_nested=0",
         b"CREATE TABLE db-one.table-uno ...",
         b"CREATE TABLE db-one.table-dos ...",