diff --git a/crates/milli/src/search/new/bucket_sort.rs b/crates/milli/src/search/new/bucket_sort.rs
index 645d36e16..204cbbad4 100644
--- a/crates/milli/src/search/new/bucket_sort.rs
+++ b/crates/milli/src/search/new/bucket_sort.rs
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ pub fn bucket_sort<'ctx, Q: RankingRuleQueryTrait>(
 
     let distinct_fid = distinct_fid(distinct, ctx.index, ctx.txn)?;
 
-    if universe.len() < from as u64 {
+    let universe_len = universe.len() as usize;
+    if universe_len < from {
         return Ok(BucketSortOutput {
             docids: vec![],
             scores: vec![],
@@ -167,6 +168,9 @@ pub fn bucket_sort<'ctx, Q: RankingRuleQueryTrait>(
             _ => length,
         };
 
+    // if the universe is smaller than the max length to evaluate, we can stop early
+    let max_len_to_evaluate = std::cmp::min(universe_len, max_len_to_evaluate);
+
     while valid_docids.len() < max_len_to_evaluate {
         if time_budget.exceeded() {
             loop {