diff --git a/src/scanpy/_settings/presets.py b/src/scanpy/_settings/presets.py
index 697c55e765..ce768401f4 100644
--- a/src/scanpy/_settings/presets.py
+++ b/src/scanpy/_settings/presets.py
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ def rank_genes_groups() -> Mapping[Preset, RankGenesGroupsPreset]:
         return {
             Preset.ScanpyV1: RankGenesGroupsPreset(method="t-test", mask_var=None),
             Preset.ScanpyV2Preview: RankGenesGroupsPreset(
-                method="wilcoxon", mask_var=None
+                method="wilcoxon", mask_var="highly_variable"
             ),
         }
 
diff --git a/tests/test_rank_genes_groups.py b/tests/test_rank_genes_groups.py
index ba38ffc94d..be5e44d0da 100644
--- a/tests/test_rank_genes_groups.py
+++ b/tests/test_rank_genes_groups.py
@@ -311,3 +311,11 @@ def test_mask_not_equal():
     with_mask = pbmc.uns["rank_genes_groups"]["names"]
 
     assert not np.array_equal(no_mask, with_mask)
+
+
+def test_v2preview_preset_mask_var() -> None:
+    """Test that ScanpyV2Preview preset sets mask_var='highly_variable'."""
+    from scanpy import Preset
+
+    assert Preset.ScanpyV2Preview.rank_genes_groups.mask_var == "highly_variable"
+    assert Preset.ScanpyV1.rank_genes_groups.mask_var is None