diff --git a/docs/changelog/131081.yaml b/docs/changelog/131081.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e0557f17968a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/131081.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+pr: 131081
+summary: Fix knn search error when dimensions are not set
+area: Vector Search
+type: bug
+issues:
+ - 129550
diff --git a/rest-api-spec/src/yamlRestTest/resources/rest-api-spec/test/search.vectors/40_knn_search.yml b/rest-api-spec/src/yamlRestTest/resources/rest-api-spec/test/search.vectors/40_knn_search.yml
index 481f7879e0c4b..0cd997069d955 100644
--- a/rest-api-spec/src/yamlRestTest/resources/rest-api-spec/test/search.vectors/40_knn_search.yml
+++ b/rest-api-spec/src/yamlRestTest/resources/rest-api-spec/test/search.vectors/40_knn_search.yml
@@ -621,3 +621,36 @@ setup:
           properties:
             embedding:
               type: dense_vector
+
+
+---
+"Searching with no data dimensions specified":
+  - requires:
+      cluster_features: "search.vectors.no_dimensions_bugfix"
+      reason: "Search with no dimensions bugfix"
+
+  - do:
+      indices.create:
+        index: empty-test
+        body:
+          mappings:
+            properties:
+              vector:
+                type: dense_vector
+                index: true
+
+  - do:
+      search:
+        index: empty-test
+        body:
+          fields: [ "name" ]
+          knn:
+            field: vector
+            query_vector: [ -0.5, 90.0, -10, 14.8, -156.0 ]
+            k: 3
+            num_candidates: 3
+            rescore_vector:
+              oversample: 1.5
+            similarity: 0.1
+
+  - match: { hits.total.value: 0 }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/vectors/DenseVectorFieldMapper.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/vectors/DenseVectorFieldMapper.java
index b10e8c793d782..5914e86f51e90 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/vectors/DenseVectorFieldMapper.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/mapper/vectors/DenseVectorFieldMapper.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 import org.apache.lucene.index.VectorEncoding;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.VectorSimilarityFunction;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.FieldExistsQuery;
+import org.apache.lucene.search.MatchNoDocsQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.Query;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.join.BitSetProducer;
 import org.apache.lucene.util.BitUtil;
@@ -2216,6 +2217,9 @@ public Query createKnnQuery(
                     "to perform knn search on field [" + name() + "], its mapping must have [index] set to [true]"
                 );
             }
+            if (dims == null) {
+                return new MatchNoDocsQuery("No data has been indexed for field [" + name() + "]");
+            }
             return switch (getElementType()) {
                 case BYTE -> createKnnByteQuery(queryVector.asByteVector(), k, numCands, filter, similarityThreshold, parentFilter);
                 case FLOAT -> createKnnFloatQuery(
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchFeatures.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchFeatures.java
index 45baf5d05b8d4..677e9e1a5e176 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchFeatures.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchFeatures.java
@@ -25,9 +25,11 @@ public Set<NodeFeature> getFeatures() {
     public static final NodeFeature COMPLETION_FIELD_SUPPORTS_DUPLICATE_SUGGESTIONS = new NodeFeature(
         "search.completion_field.duplicate.support"
     );
+    public static final NodeFeature RESCORER_MISSING_FIELD_BAD_REQUEST = new NodeFeature("search.rescorer.missing.field.bad.request");
     public static final NodeFeature INT_SORT_FOR_INT_SHORT_BYTE_FIELDS = new NodeFeature("search.sort.int_sort_for_int_short_byte_fields");
     static final NodeFeature MULTI_MATCH_CHECKS_POSITIONS = new NodeFeature("search.multi.match.checks.positions");
     private static final NodeFeature KNN_QUERY_BUGFIX_130254 = new NodeFeature("search.knn.query.bugfix.130254", true);
+    public static final NodeFeature SEARCH_WITH_NO_DIMENSIONS_BUGFIX = new NodeFeature("search.vectors.no_dimensions_bugfix");
 
     @Override
     public Set<NodeFeature> getTestFeatures() {
@@ -36,7 +38,8 @@ public Set<NodeFeature> getTestFeatures() {
             COMPLETION_FIELD_SUPPORTS_DUPLICATE_SUGGESTIONS,
             INT_SORT_FOR_INT_SHORT_BYTE_FIELDS,
             MULTI_MATCH_CHECKS_POSITIONS,
-            KNN_QUERY_BUGFIX_130254
+            KNN_QUERY_BUGFIX_130254,
+            SEARCH_WITH_NO_DIMENSIONS_BUGFIX
         );
     }
 }