diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/blockmanagement/DatanodeManager.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/blockmanagement/DatanodeManager.java
index b3eb2fd7f9..a46a2ce15c 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/blockmanagement/DatanodeManager.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/blockmanagement/DatanodeManager.java
@@ -678,7 +678,15 @@ private Consumer<List<DatanodeInfoWithStorage>> createSecondaryNodeSorter() {
     Consumer<List<DatanodeInfoWithStorage>> secondarySort = null;
     if (readConsiderStorageType) {
       Comparator<DatanodeInfoWithStorage> comp =
-          Comparator.comparing(DatanodeInfoWithStorage::getStorageType);
+          Comparator.comparing(DatanodeInfoWithStorage::getStorageType, (s1, s2) -> {
+            if (s1 == null) {
+              return (s2 == null) ? 0 : -1;
+            } else if (s2 == null) {
+              return 1;
+            } else {
+              return s2.compareTo(s1);
+            }
+          });
       secondarySort = list -> Collections.sort(list, comp);
     }
     if (readConsiderLoad) {