diff --git a/crates/polars-ops/src/frame/join/merge_sorted.rs b/crates/polars-ops/src/frame/join/merge_sorted.rs
index 8312c19af2cc..ffb0913a6a84 100644
--- a/crates/polars-ops/src/frame/join/merge_sorted.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-ops/src/frame/join/merge_sorted.rs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ pub fn _merge_sorted_dfs(
         return Ok(right.clone());
     }
 
-    let merge_indicator = series_to_merge_indicator(left_s, right_s);
+    let merge_indicator = series_to_merge_indicator(left_s, right_s)?;
     let new_columns = left
         .get_columns()
         .iter()
@@ -90,7 +90,10 @@ fn merge_series(lhs: &Series, rhs: &Series, merge_indicator: &[bool]) -> PolarsR
                 .fields_as_series()
                 .iter()
                 .zip(rhs.fields_as_series())
-                .map(|(lhs, rhs)| merge_series(lhs, &rhs, merge_indicator))
+                .map(|(lhs, rhs)| {
+                    merge_series(lhs, &rhs, merge_indicator)
+                        .map(|merged| merged.with_name(lhs.name().clone()))
+                })
                 .collect::<PolarsResult<Vec<_>>>()?;
             StructChunked::from_series(PlSmallStr::EMPTY, new_fields[0].len(), new_fields.iter())
                 .unwrap()
@@ -139,11 +142,11 @@ where
     unsafe { iter.trust_my_length(total_len).collect_trusted() }
 }
 
-fn series_to_merge_indicator(lhs: &Series, rhs: &Series) -> Vec<bool> {
+fn series_to_merge_indicator(lhs: &Series, rhs: &Series) -> PolarsResult<Vec<bool>> {
     let lhs_s = lhs.to_physical_repr().into_owned();
     let rhs_s = rhs.to_physical_repr().into_owned();
 
-    match lhs_s.dtype() {
+    let out = match lhs_s.dtype() {
         DataType::Boolean => {
             let lhs = lhs_s.bool().unwrap();
             let rhs = rhs_s.bool().unwrap();
@@ -159,6 +162,13 @@ fn series_to_merge_indicator(lhs: &Series, rhs: &Series) -> Vec<bool> {
             let rhs = rhs_s.binary().unwrap();
             get_merge_indicator(lhs.into_iter(), rhs.into_iter())
         },
+        #[cfg(feature = "dtype-struct")]
+        DataType::Struct(_) => {
+            let options = SortOptions::default();
+            let lhs = lhs_s.struct_().unwrap().get_row_encoded(options)?;
+            let rhs = rhs_s.struct_().unwrap().get_row_encoded(options)?;
+            get_merge_indicator(lhs.into_iter(), rhs.into_iter())
+        },
         _ => {
             with_match_physical_numeric_polars_type!(lhs_s.dtype(), |$T| {
                     let lhs: &ChunkedArray<$T> = lhs_s.as_ref().as_ref().as_ref();
@@ -168,7 +178,8 @@ fn series_to_merge_indicator(lhs: &Series, rhs: &Series) -> Vec<bool> {
 
             })
         },
-    }
+    };
+    Ok(out)
 }
 
 // get a boolean values, left: true, right: false
diff --git a/py-polars/tests/unit/operations/test_merge_sorted.py b/py-polars/tests/unit/operations/test_merge_sorted.py
index d851368b6159..d8d9f65dc1fd 100644
--- a/py-polars/tests/unit/operations/test_merge_sorted.py
+++ b/py-polars/tests/unit/operations/test_merge_sorted.py
@@ -172,11 +172,36 @@ def test_merge_sorted_parametric_string(lhs: pl.Series, rhs: pl.Series) -> None:
     assert_series_equal(merge_sorted, append_sorted)
 
 
+@given(
+    lhs=series(
+        name="a",
+        allowed_dtypes=[
+            pl.Struct({"x": pl.Int32, "y": pl.Struct({"x": pl.Int8, "y": pl.Int8})})
+        ],
+        allow_null=False,
+    ),  # Nulls see: https://github.com/pola-rs/polars/issues/20991
+    rhs=series(
+        name="a",
+        allowed_dtypes=[
+            pl.Struct({"x": pl.Int32, "y": pl.Struct({"x": pl.Int8, "y": pl.Int8})})
+        ],
+        allow_null=False,
+    ),  # Nulls see: https://github.com/pola-rs/polars/issues/20991
+)
+def test_merge_sorted_parametric_struct(lhs: pl.Series, rhs: pl.Series) -> None:
+    l_df = pl.DataFrame([lhs.sort()])
+    r_df = pl.DataFrame([rhs.sort()])
+
+    merge_sorted = l_df.lazy().merge_sorted(r_df.lazy(), "a").collect().get_column("a")
+    append_sorted = lhs.append(rhs).sort()
+
+    assert_series_equal(merge_sorted, append_sorted)
+
+
 @given(
     s=series(
         name="a",
         excluded_dtypes=[
-            pl.Struct,  # Bug. See https://github.com/pola-rs/polars/issues/20986
             pl.Categorical(
                 ordering="lexical"
             ),  # Bug. See https://github.com/pola-rs/polars/issues/21025