diff --git a/core/src/Cuda/Kokkos_Cuda_Instance.cpp b/core/src/Cuda/Kokkos_Cuda_Instance.cpp
index 1d61c9c5906..870284b3723 100644
--- a/core/src/Cuda/Kokkos_Cuda_Instance.cpp
+++ b/core/src/Cuda/Kokkos_Cuda_Instance.cpp
@@ -345,6 +345,9 @@ Cuda::size_type *CudaInternal::scratch_flags(const std::size_t size) const {
     m_scratchFlags = static_cast<size_type *>(
         mem_space.allocate("Kokkos::InternalScratchFlags", alloc_size));
 
+    // We only zero-initialize the allocation when we actually allocate.
+    // It's the responsibility of the features using scratch_flags,
+    // namely parallel_reduce and parallel_scan, to reset the used values to 0.
     KOKKOS_IMPL_CUDA_SAFE_CALL(
         (cuda_memset_wrapper(m_scratchFlags, 0, alloc_size)));
   }
diff --git a/core/src/HIP/Kokkos_HIP_Instance.cpp b/core/src/HIP/Kokkos_HIP_Instance.cpp
index 3b5a1e0017c..d9fb99f1751 100644
--- a/core/src/HIP/Kokkos_HIP_Instance.cpp
+++ b/core/src/HIP/Kokkos_HIP_Instance.cpp
@@ -226,6 +226,9 @@ Kokkos::HIP::size_type *HIPInternal::scratch_flags(const std::size_t size) {
     m_scratchFlags = static_cast<size_type *>(
         mem_space.allocate("Kokkos::InternalScratchFlags", alloc_size));
 
+    // We only zero-initialize the allocation when we actually allocate.
+    // It's the responsibility of the features using scratch_flags,
+    // namely parallel_reduce and parallel_scan, to reset the used values to 0.
     KOKKOS_IMPL_HIP_SAFE_CALL(hipMemset(m_scratchFlags, 0, alloc_size));
   }
 
diff --git a/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_Instance.cpp b/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_Instance.cpp
index 05b50d52534..f05deab54b0 100644
--- a/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_Instance.cpp
+++ b/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_Instance.cpp
@@ -288,12 +288,16 @@ sycl::device_ptr<void> SYCLInternal::scratch_flags(const std::size_t size) {
         m_scratchFlagsCount, sizeScratchGrain);
     m_scratchFlags = static_cast<size_type*>(mem_space.allocate(
         "Kokkos::Experimental::SYCL::InternalScratchFlags", alloc_size));
-  }
-  auto memset_event = m_queue->memset(m_scratchFlags, 0,
-                                      m_scratchFlagsCount * sizeScratchGrain);
+
+    // We only zero-initialize the allocation when we actually allocate.
+    // It's the responsibility of the features using scratch_flags,
+    // namely parallel_reduce and parallel_scan, to reset the used values to 0.
+    auto memset_event = m_queue->memset(m_scratchFlags, 0,
+                                        m_scratchFlagsCount * sizeScratchGrain);
 #ifndef KOKKOS_IMPL_SYCL_USE_IN_ORDER_QUEUES
-  m_queue->ext_oneapi_submit_barrier(std::vector{memset_event});
+    m_queue->ext_oneapi_submit_barrier(std::vector{memset_event});
 #endif
+  }
 
   return m_scratchFlags;
 }
diff --git a/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelReduce_MDRange.hpp b/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelReduce_MDRange.hpp
index 953d2235b31..f55280e22e3 100644
--- a/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelReduce_MDRange.hpp
+++ b/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelReduce_MDRange.hpp
@@ -234,6 +234,7 @@ class Kokkos::Impl::ParallelReduce<CombinedFunctorReducerType,
                 }
                 item.barrier(sycl::access::fence_space::local_space);
                 if (num_teams_done[0] == n_wgroups) {
+                  if (local_id == 0) *scratch_flags = 0;
                   if (local_id >= static_cast<int>(n_wgroups))
                     reducer.init(&local_mem[local_id * value_count]);
                   else {
@@ -279,6 +280,7 @@ class Kokkos::Impl::ParallelReduce<CombinedFunctorReducerType,
                 }
                 item.barrier(sycl::access::fence_space::local_space);
                 if (num_teams_done[0] == n_wgroups) {
+                  if (local_id == 0) *scratch_flags = 0;
                   if (local_id >= static_cast<int>(n_wgroups))
                     reducer.init(&local_value);
                   else {
diff --git a/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelReduce_Range.hpp b/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelReduce_Range.hpp
index 7f29dcf9d9c..5333e3c8a83 100644
--- a/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelReduce_Range.hpp
+++ b/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelReduce_Range.hpp
@@ -177,6 +177,7 @@ class Kokkos::Impl::ParallelReduce<CombinedFunctorReducerType,
                 }
                 item.barrier(sycl::access::fence_space::local_space);
                 if (num_teams_done[0] == n_wgroups) {
+                  if (local_id == 0) *scratch_flags = 0;
                   if (local_id >= n_wgroups)
                     reducer.init(&local_mem[local_id * value_count]);
                   else {
@@ -219,6 +220,7 @@ class Kokkos::Impl::ParallelReduce<CombinedFunctorReducerType,
                 }
                 item.barrier(sycl::access::fence_space::local_space);
                 if (num_teams_done[0] == n_wgroups) {
+                  if (local_id == 0) *scratch_flags = 0;
                   if (local_id >= n_wgroups)
                     reducer.init(&local_value);
                   else {
diff --git a/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelReduce_Team.hpp b/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelReduce_Team.hpp
index 01819b848af..27165c59e3a 100644
--- a/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelReduce_Team.hpp
+++ b/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelReduce_Team.hpp
@@ -229,6 +229,7 @@ class Kokkos::Impl::ParallelReduce<CombinedFunctorReducerType,
                   }
                   sycl::group_barrier(item.get_group());
                   if (num_teams_done[0] == n_wgroups) {
+                    if (local_id == 0) *scratch_flags = 0;
                     if (local_id >= n_wgroups)
                       reducer.init(&local_mem[local_id * value_count]);
                     else {
@@ -281,6 +282,7 @@ class Kokkos::Impl::ParallelReduce<CombinedFunctorReducerType,
                   }
                   item.barrier(sycl::access::fence_space::local_space);
                   if (num_teams_done[0] == n_wgroups) {
+                    if (local_id == 0) *scratch_flags = 0;
                     if (local_id >= n_wgroups)
                       reducer.init(&local_value);
                     else {
diff --git a/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelScan_Range.hpp b/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelScan_Range.hpp
index d6f3219defd..977b69bc9eb 100644
--- a/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelScan_Range.hpp
+++ b/core/src/SYCL/Kokkos_SYCL_ParallelScan_Range.hpp
@@ -187,6 +187,7 @@ class ParallelScanSYCLBase {
             }
             item.barrier(sycl::access::fence_space::global_space);
             if (num_teams_done[0] == n_wgroups) {
+              if (local_id == 0) *scratch_flags = 0;
               value_type total;
               reducer.init(&total);