diff --git a/grpc_server.go b/grpc_server.go
index 3bbaf324..89c4eef9 100644
--- a/grpc_server.go
+++ b/grpc_server.go
@@ -257,6 +257,15 @@ func (s *SearchService) Search(req *pb.SearchRequest,
 			return err
 		}
 
+		if searchResult.Status != nil &&
+			len(searchResult.Status.Errors) > 0 &&
+			queryCtlParams.Ctl.Consistency != nil &&
+			queryCtlParams.Ctl.Consistency.Results == "complete" {
+			// complete results expected, do not propagate partial results
+			return fmt.Errorf("grpc_server: results weren't retrieved from some"+
+				" index partitions: %d", len(searchResult.Status.Errors))
+		}
+
 		response, er2 := MarshalJSON(searchResult)
 		if er2 != nil {
 			err = status.Errorf(codes.Internal,
diff --git a/pindex_bleve.go b/pindex_bleve.go
index 9ef0f976..970340ab 100644
--- a/pindex_bleve.go
+++ b/pindex_bleve.go
@@ -930,6 +930,16 @@ func QueryBleve(mgr *cbgt.Manager, indexName, indexUUID string,
 	if searchResult != nil {
 		err = processSearchResult(&queryCtlParams, searchResult,
 			remoteClients, err, err1)
+
+		if searchResult.Status != nil &&
+			len(searchResult.Status.Errors) > 0 &&
+			queryCtlParams.Ctl.Consistency != nil &&
+			queryCtlParams.Ctl.Consistency.Results == "complete" {
+			// complete results expected, do not propagate partial results
+			return fmt.Errorf("bleve: results weren't retrieved from some"+
+				" index partitions: %d", len(searchResult.Status.Errors))
+		}
+
 		mustEncode(res, searchResult)
 
 		// update return error status to indicate any errors within the
@@ -2181,7 +2191,7 @@ func bleveIndexTargets(mgr *cbgt.Manager, indexName, indexUUID string,
 	if consistencyParams != nil &&
 		consistencyParams.Results == "complete" &&
 		len(missingPIndexNames) > 0 {
-		return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("bleve: some pindexes aren't reachable,"+
+		return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("bleve: some index partitions aren't reachable,"+
 			" missing: %v", len(missingPIndexNames))
 	}