diff --git a/estuary-cdk/estuary_cdk/capture/common.py b/estuary-cdk/estuary_cdk/capture/common.py
index 6d8e7da94b..8d789716f2 100644
--- a/estuary-cdk/estuary_cdk/capture/common.py
+++ b/estuary-cdk/estuary_cdk/capture/common.py
@@ -133,7 +133,8 @@ class Backfill(BaseModel, extra="forbid"):
             description="LogCursor at which incremental replication began"
         )
         next_page: PageCursor = Field(
-            description="PageCursor of the next page to fetch"
+            description="PageCursor of the next page to fetch",
+            default=None
         )
 
     class Snapshot(BaseModel, extra="forbid"):