diff --git a/output/schema/schema.json b/output/schema/schema.json
index 7c74a74733..09b4f3dc17 100644
--- a/output/schema/schema.json
+++ b/output/schema/schema.json
@@ -42065,7 +42065,7 @@
         },
         {
           "name": "_score",
-          "required": true,
+          "required": false,
           "type": {
             "kind": "union_of",
             "items": [
@@ -42409,7 +42409,7 @@
         },
         {
           "name": "max_score",
-          "required": true,
+          "required": false,
           "type": {
             "kind": "union_of",
             "items": [
diff --git a/output/typescript/types.ts b/output/typescript/types.ts
index 0dc811c6f4..24ca7bb232 100644
--- a/output/typescript/types.ts
+++ b/output/typescript/types.ts
@@ -1480,7 +1480,7 @@ export type SearchHighlighterType = 'plain' | 'fvh' | 'unified'| string
 export interface SearchHit<TDocument = unknown> {
   _index: IndexName
   _id?: Id
-  _score: double | null
+  _score?: double | null
   _explanation?: ExplainExplanation
   fields?: Record<string, any>
   highlight?: Record<string, string[]>
@@ -1503,7 +1503,7 @@ export interface SearchHit<TDocument = unknown> {
 export interface SearchHitsMetadata<T = unknown> {
   total?: SearchTotalHits | long
   hits: SearchHit<T>[]
-  max_score: double | null
+  max_score?: double | null
 }
 
 export interface SearchInnerHits {
diff --git a/specification/_global/search/_types/hits.ts b/specification/_global/search/_types/hits.ts
index 331244c7b2..17c7291618 100644
--- a/specification/_global/search/_types/hits.ts
+++ b/specification/_global/search/_types/hits.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,10 @@ export class Hit<TDocument> {
    * on a search request. Otherwise the field is always present on hits.
    */
   _id?: Id
-  _score: double | null
+  // While _score is always returned by Elasticsearch, making it required
+  // breaks downstream JavaScript users for little added benefit
+  // See https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-specification/pull/5248
+  _score?: double | null
   _explanation?: Explanation
   fields?: Dictionary<string, UserDefinedValue>
   highlight?: Dictionary<string, string[]>
@@ -69,7 +72,10 @@ export class HitsMetadata<T> {
   total?: TotalHits | long
   hits: Hit<T>[]
 
-  max_score: double | null
+  // While max_score is always returned by Elasticsearch, making it required
+  // breaks downstream JavaScript users for little added benefit
+  // See https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-specification/pull/5248
+  max_score?: double | null
 }
 
 export class HitMetadata<TDocument> {