diff --git a/jina/drivers/__init__.py b/jina/drivers/__init__.py
index 98d1c0de2a261..601ccd9f3483a 100644
--- a/jina/drivers/__init__.py
+++ b/jina/drivers/__init__.py
@@ -170,11 +170,11 @@ def __getstate__(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
 
 class BaseRecursiveDriver(BaseDriver):
 
-    def __init__(self, depth_range: Tuple[int] = (0, 0), apply_order: str = 'post',
+    def __init__(self, depth_range: Tuple[int] = (0, 1), apply_order: str = 'post',
                  traverse_on: Tuple[str] = ('chunks',), *args, **kwargs):
         """
 
-        :param depth_range: right-exclusive range of the recursion depth, (0,0) for root-level only
+        :param depth_range: right-exclusive range of the recursion depth, (0, 1) for root-level only
         :param apply_order: the traverse and apply order. if 'post' then first traverse then call apply, if 'pre' then first apply then traverse
         :param args:
         :param kwargs:
@@ -226,8 +226,10 @@ def post_traverse(_docs, traverse_on, context_doc=None):
             """
             if _docs:
                 for d in _docs:
+                    # check if apply to next level
                     if d.level_depth < self._depth_end:
                         post_traverse(getattr(d, traverse_on), traverse_on, d)
+                    # check if apply to the current level
                     if self.is_apply and (d.level_depth >= self._depth_start):
                         self._apply(d, context_doc, traverse_on, *args, **kwargs)
 
@@ -242,9 +244,11 @@ def pre_traverse(_docs, traverse_on, context_doc=None):
                     self._apply_all(_docs, context_doc, traverse_on, *args, **kwargs)
 
                 for d in _docs:
+                    # check if apply on the current level
                     if self.is_apply and d.level_depth >= self._depth_start:
                         self._apply(d, context_doc, traverse_on, *args, **kwargs)
-                    if d.level_depth < self._depth_end:
+                    # check if apply to the next level
+                    if (d.level_depth + 1) < self._depth_end:
                         pre_traverse(getattr(d, traverse_on), traverse_on, d)
 
         if self.recursion_order == 'post':
diff --git a/tests/unit/drivers/querylang/test_querylang_drivers.py b/tests/unit/drivers/querylang/test_querylang_drivers.py
index 4fdec40eaaca5..6c7816f104f26 100644
--- a/tests/unit/drivers/querylang/test_querylang_drivers.py
+++ b/tests/unit/drivers/querylang/test_querylang_drivers.py
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ def validate(req):
 
         f = (Flow().add(uses='DummyModeIdSegmenter')
             .add(
-            uses='- !FilterQL | {lookups: {modality: mode2}, traverse_on: [chunks], depth_range: [1, 1]}'))
+            uses='- !FilterQL | {lookups: {modality: mode2}, traverse_on: [chunks], depth_range: [1, 2]}'))
 
         with f:
             f.index(random_docs_with_chunks(), output_fn=validate, callback_on_body=True)
diff --git a/tests/unit/drivers/yaml/mockencoder-mode1.yml b/tests/unit/drivers/yaml/mockencoder-mode1.yml
index 1fe00a5fb32e6..fd0fdf31e04bf 100644
--- a/tests/unit/drivers/yaml/mockencoder-mode1.yml
+++ b/tests/unit/drivers/yaml/mockencoder-mode1.yml
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ requests:
         with:
           lookups: {modality: mode1}
           traverse_on: [chunks]
-          depth_range: [1, 1]
+          depth_range: [1, 2]
       - !EncodeDriver
         with:
           method: encode
           traverse_on: [chunks]
-          depth_range: [1, 1]
+          depth_range: [1, 2]
diff --git a/tests/unit/drivers/yaml/mockencoder-mode2.yml b/tests/unit/drivers/yaml/mockencoder-mode2.yml
index d144f8055ac81..1fda352eccb0b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/drivers/yaml/mockencoder-mode2.yml
+++ b/tests/unit/drivers/yaml/mockencoder-mode2.yml
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ requests:
         with:
           lookups: {modality: mode2}
           traverse_on: [chunks]
-          depth_range: [1, 1]
+          depth_range: [1, 2]
       - !EncodeDriver
         with:
           method: encode
           traverse_on: [chunks]
-          depth_range: [1, 1]
+          depth_range: [1, 2]
diff --git a/tests/unit/flow/test_flow.py b/tests/unit/flow/test_flow.py
index 4ec96649c6347..8ce72ef7507bd 100644
--- a/tests/unit/flow/test_flow.py
+++ b/tests/unit/flow/test_flow.py
@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@ def input_fn():
 
         flow = Flow().add(name='chunk_seg', parallel=3, uses='_pass').\
             add(name='encoder12', parallel=2,
-                uses='- !FilterQL | {lookups: {modality__in: [mode1, mode2]}, depth_range: [0, 0]}')
+                uses='- !FilterQL | {lookups: {modality__in: [mode1, mode2]}, depth_range: [0, 1]}')
         with flow:
             flow.index(input_fn=input_fn, output_fn=validate)