diff --git a/pkg/sql/schema_changer.go b/pkg/sql/schema_changer.go
index c08db587b879..e993ed5da9e6 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/schema_changer.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/schema_changer.go
@@ -2269,7 +2269,8 @@ func createSchemaChangeEvalCtx(
 		DataConversion: sessiondata.DataConversionConfig{
 			Location: dummyLocation,
 		},
-		User: security.NodeUser,
+		User:          security.NodeUser,
+		OptimizerMode: sessiondata.OptimizerOn,
 	}
 
 	evalCtx := extendedEvalContext{