diff --git a/lib/logstorage/fields_set.go b/lib/logstorage/fields_set.go
index faf52ce9d..cb1194f6e 100644
--- a/lib/logstorage/fields_set.go
+++ b/lib/logstorage/fields_set.go
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ func (fs fieldsSet) clone() fieldsSet {
 	return fsNew
 }
 
+func (fs fieldsSet) isEmpty() bool {
+	return len(fs) == 0
+}
+
 func (fs fieldsSet) getAll() []string {
 	a := make([]string, 0, len(fs))
 	for f := range fs {
diff --git a/lib/logstorage/parser_test.go b/lib/logstorage/parser_test.go
index 01f89c5fe..feb8f8f2f 100644
--- a/lib/logstorage/parser_test.go
+++ b/lib/logstorage/parser_test.go
@@ -1542,7 +1542,6 @@ func TestQueryGetNeededColumns(t *testing.T) {
 	f(`* | fields f1, f2 | mv f1 f3, f4 f5`, `f1,f2`, ``)
 	f(`* | fields f1, f2 | mv f2 f3, f4 f5`, `f1,f2`, ``)
 	f(`* | fields f1, f2 | mv f2 f3, f4 f1`, `f2`, ``)
-	f(`* | fields f1, f2 | stats count() r1`, ``, ``)
 	f(`* | fields f1, f2 | stats count_uniq() r1`, `f1,f2`, ``)
 	f(`* | fields f1, f2 | stats count(f1) r1`, `f1`, ``)
 	f(`* | fields f1, f2 | stats count(f1,f2,f3) r1`, `f1,f2`, ``)
@@ -1776,11 +1775,21 @@ func TestQueryGetNeededColumns(t *testing.T) {
 	f(`* | rm f1, f2 | mv f2 f3 | sort by(f1)`, `*`, `f1,f2,f3`)
 	f(`* | rm f1, f2 | fields f3`, `f3`, ``)
 	f(`* | rm f1, f2 | fields f1,f3`, `f3`, ``)
-	f(`* | rm f1, f2 | stats count() f1`, ``, ``)
 	f(`* | rm f1, f2 | stats count(f3) r1`, `f3`, ``)
 	f(`* | rm f1, f2 | stats count(f1) r1`, ``, ``)
 	f(`* | rm f1, f2 | stats count(f1,f3) r1`, `f3`, ``)
 	f(`* | rm f1, f2 | stats by(f1) count(f2) r1`, ``, ``)
 	f(`* | rm f1, f2 | stats by(f3) count(f2) r1`, `f3`, ``)
 	f(`* | rm f1, f2 | stats by(f3) count(f4) r1`, `f3,f4`, ``)
+
+	// Verify that fields are correctly tracked before count(*)
+	f(`* | copy a b, c d | count() r1`, `a`, ``)
+	f(`* | delete a, b | count() r1`, `*`, `a`)
+	f(`* | extract "<f1>bar" from x | count() r1`, `x`, ``)
+	f(`* | extract_regexp "(?P<f1>.*)bar" from x | count() r1`, `x`, ``)
+	f(`* | field_names | count() r1`, `*`, `_time`)
+	f(`* | limit 10 | field_names as abc | count() r1`, `*`, ``)
+	f(`* | fields a, b | count() r1`, `a`, ``)
+	f(`* | field_values a | count() r1`, `a`, ``)
+	f(`* | limit 10 | filter a:b c:d | count() r1`, `a,c`, ``)
 }
diff --git a/lib/logstorage/pipe_copy.go b/lib/logstorage/pipe_copy.go
index 00d91edca..c3d4ffdf1 100644
--- a/lib/logstorage/pipe_copy.go
+++ b/lib/logstorage/pipe_copy.go
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ func (pc *pipeCopy) String() string {
 }
 
 func (pc *pipeCopy) updateNeededFields(neededFields, unneededFields fieldsSet) {
+	if neededFields.isEmpty() {
+		neededFields.add(pc.srcFields[0])
+		return
+	}
+
 	for i := len(pc.srcFields) - 1; i >= 0; i-- {
 		srcField := pc.srcFields[i]
 		dstField := pc.dstFields[i]
diff --git a/lib/logstorage/pipe_delete.go b/lib/logstorage/pipe_delete.go
index 543b769fb..2530fb39e 100644
--- a/lib/logstorage/pipe_delete.go
+++ b/lib/logstorage/pipe_delete.go
@@ -23,11 +23,15 @@ func (pd *pipeDelete) String() string {
 }
 
 func (pd *pipeDelete) updateNeededFields(neededFields, unneededFields fieldsSet) {
+	if neededFields.isEmpty() {
+		neededFields.add("*")
+		unneededFields.add(pd.fields[0])
+		return
+	}
+
 	if neededFields.contains("*") {
-		// update only unneeded fields
 		unneededFields.addFields(pd.fields)
 	} else {
-		// update only needed fields
 		neededFields.removeFields(pd.fields)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/lib/logstorage/pipe_extract.go b/lib/logstorage/pipe_extract.go
index a0cfe16f4..a2e98cee1 100644
--- a/lib/logstorage/pipe_extract.go
+++ b/lib/logstorage/pipe_extract.go
@@ -60,6 +60,11 @@ func (pe *pipeExtract) initFilterInValues(cache map[string][]string, getFieldVal
 }
 
 func (pe *pipeExtract) updateNeededFields(neededFields, unneededFields fieldsSet) {
+	if neededFields.isEmpty() {
+		neededFields.add(pe.fromField)
+		return
+	}
+
 	if neededFields.contains("*") {
 		unneededFieldsOrig := unneededFields.clone()
 		needFromField := false
diff --git a/lib/logstorage/pipe_extract_regexp.go b/lib/logstorage/pipe_extract_regexp.go
index 5a5c4017a..aec47d119 100644
--- a/lib/logstorage/pipe_extract_regexp.go
+++ b/lib/logstorage/pipe_extract_regexp.go
@@ -62,6 +62,11 @@ func (pe *pipeExtractRegexp) initFilterInValues(cache map[string][]string, getFi
 }
 
 func (pe *pipeExtractRegexp) updateNeededFields(neededFields, unneededFields fieldsSet) {
+	if neededFields.isEmpty() {
+		neededFields.add(pe.fromField)
+		return
+	}
+
 	if neededFields.contains("*") {
 		unneededFieldsOrig := unneededFields.clone()
 		needFromField := false
diff --git a/lib/logstorage/pipe_field_values.go b/lib/logstorage/pipe_field_values.go
index d9c1f57ac..b56111f55 100644
--- a/lib/logstorage/pipe_field_values.go
+++ b/lib/logstorage/pipe_field_values.go
@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@ func (pf *pipeFieldValues) String() string {
 }
 
 func (pf *pipeFieldValues) updateNeededFields(neededFields, unneededFields fieldsSet) {
+	if neededFields.isEmpty() {
+		neededFields.add(pf.field)
+		return
+	}
+
 	if neededFields.contains("*") {
 		neededFields.reset()
 		if !unneededFields.contains(pf.field) {
diff --git a/lib/logstorage/pipe_fields.go b/lib/logstorage/pipe_fields.go
index 1724897df..f9944432a 100644
--- a/lib/logstorage/pipe_fields.go
+++ b/lib/logstorage/pipe_fields.go
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ func (pf *pipeFields) updateNeededFields(neededFields, unneededFields fieldsSet)
 	if pf.containsStar {
 		return
 	}
+	if neededFields.isEmpty() {
+		neededFields.add(pf.fields[0])
+		return
+	}
+
 	if neededFields.contains("*") {
 		// subtract unneeded fields from pf.fields
 		neededFields.reset()