diff --git a/sql/vector_mhnsw.cc b/sql/vector_mhnsw.cc
index ee5e848267b..f2fd74e0ccb 100644
--- a/sql/vector_mhnsw.cc
+++ b/sql/vector_mhnsw.cc
@@ -886,16 +886,29 @@ static int update_second_degree_neighbors(MHNSW_Context *ctx, TABLE *graph,
 }
 
 static int search_layer(MHNSW_Context *ctx, TABLE *graph, const FVector *target,
-                        Neighborhood *start_nodes, uint ef, size_t layer,
-                        Neighborhood *result, bool skip_deleted)
+                        Neighborhood *start_nodes, uint result_size,
+                        size_t layer, Neighborhood *result, bool construction)
 {
   DBUG_ASSERT(start_nodes->num > 0);
   result->num= 0;
 
   MEM_ROOT * const root= graph->in_use->mem_root;
+  Queue<Visited> candidates, best;
+  bool skip_deleted;
+  uint ef= result_size;
 
-  Queue<Visited> candidates;
-  Queue<Visited> best;
+  if (construction)
+  {
+    skip_deleted= false;
+    if (ef > 1)
+      ef= std::max(ef_construction, ef);
+  }
+  else
+  {
+    skip_deleted= layer == 0;
+    if (ef > 1 || layer == 0)
+      ef= std::max(graph->in_use->variables.mhnsw_min_limit, ef);
+  }
 
   // WARNING! heuristic here
   const double est_heuristic= 8 * std::sqrt(ctx->max_neighbors(layer));
@@ -905,23 +918,21 @@ static int search_layer(MHNSW_Context *ctx, TABLE *graph, const FVector *target,
   candidates.init(10000, false, Visited::cmp);
   best.init(ef, true, Visited::cmp);
 
+  DBUG_ASSERT(start_nodes->num <= result_size);
   for (size_t i=0; i < start_nodes->num; i++)
   {
     Visited *v= visited.create(start_nodes->links[i]);
     candidates.push(v);
     if (skip_deleted && v->node->deleted)
       continue;
-    if (best.elements() < ef)
-      best.push(v);
-    else if (v->distance_to_target < best.top()->distance_to_target)
-      best.replace_top(v);
+    best.push(v);
   }
 
   float furthest_best= FLT_MAX;
   while (candidates.elements())
   {
     const Visited &cur= *candidates.pop();
-    if (cur.distance_to_target > furthest_best && best.elements() == ef)
+    if (cur.distance_to_target > furthest_best && best.is_full())
       break; // All possible candidates are worse than what we have
 
     visited.flush();
@@ -941,7 +952,7 @@ static int search_layer(MHNSW_Context *ctx, TABLE *graph, const FVector *target,
         if (int err= links[i]->load(graph))
           return err;
         Visited *v= visited.create(links[i]);
-        if (best.elements() < ef)
+        if (!best.is_full())
         {
           candidates.push(v);
           if (skip_deleted && v->node->deleted)
@@ -966,6 +977,9 @@ static int search_layer(MHNSW_Context *ctx, TABLE *graph, const FVector *target,
     set_if_bigger(ctx->ef_power, ef_power); // not atomic, but it's ok
   }
 
+  while (best.elements() > result_size)
+    best.pop();
+
   result->num= best.elements();
   for (FVectorNode **links= result->links + result->num; best.elements();)
     *--links= best.pop()->node;
@@ -1033,9 +1047,10 @@ int mhnsw_insert(TABLE *table, KEY *keyinfo)
   root_make_savepoint(thd->mem_root, &memroot_sv);
   SCOPE_EXIT([memroot_sv](){ root_free_to_savepoint(&memroot_sv); });
 
+  const size_t max_found= ctx->max_neighbors(0);
   Neighborhood candidates, start_nodes;
-  candidates.init(thd->alloc<FVectorNode*>(ef_construction + 7), ef_construction);
-  start_nodes.init(thd->alloc<FVectorNode*>(ef_construction + 7), ef_construction);
+  candidates.init(thd->alloc<FVectorNode*>(max_found + 7), max_found);
+  start_nodes.init(thd->alloc<FVectorNode*>(max_found + 7), max_found);
   start_nodes.links[start_nodes.num++]= ctx->start;
 
   const double NORMALIZATION_FACTOR= 1 / std::log(ctx->M);
@@ -1063,7 +1078,7 @@ int mhnsw_insert(TABLE *table, KEY *keyinfo)
   {
     uint max_neighbors= ctx->max_neighbors(cur_layer);
     if (int err= search_layer(ctx, graph, target->vec, &start_nodes,
-                              ef_construction, cur_layer, &candidates, false))
+                              max_neighbors, cur_layer, &candidates, true))
       return err;
 
     if (int err= select_neighbors(ctx, graph, cur_layer, *target, candidates,
@@ -1106,11 +1121,9 @@ int mhnsw_read_first(TABLE *table, KEY *keyinfo, Item *dist, ulonglong limit)
   if (err)
     return err;
 
-  size_t ef= thd->variables.mhnsw_min_limit;
-
   Neighborhood candidates, start_nodes;
-  candidates.init(thd->alloc<FVectorNode*>(ef + 7), ef);
-  start_nodes.init(thd->alloc<FVectorNode*>(ef + 7), ef);
+  candidates.init(thd->alloc<FVectorNode*>(limit + 7), limit);
+  start_nodes.init(thd->alloc<FVectorNode*>(limit + 7), limit);
 
   // one could put all max_layer nodes in start_nodes
   // but it has no effect on the recall or speed
@@ -1146,8 +1159,8 @@ int mhnsw_read_first(TABLE *table, KEY *keyinfo, Item *dist, ulonglong limit)
     std::swap(start_nodes, candidates);
   }
 
-  if (int err= search_layer(ctx, graph, target, &start_nodes, ef, 0,
-                            &candidates, true))
+  if (int err= search_layer(ctx, graph, target, &start_nodes,
+                            static_cast<uint>(limit), 0, &candidates, false))
     return err;
 
   if (limit > candidates.num)