diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fetch/innerhits/InnerHitsContext.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fetch/innerhits/InnerHitsContext.java
index a1752a9455fe8..784da151e9918 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fetch/innerhits/InnerHitsContext.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/fetch/innerhits/InnerHitsContext.java
@@ -114,18 +114,6 @@ public NestedInnerHits(SearchContext context, Query query, Map<String, BaseInner
 
         @Override
         public TopDocs topDocs(SearchContext context, FetchSubPhase.HitContext hitContext) throws IOException {
-            TopDocsCollector topDocsCollector;
-            int topN = from() + size();
-            if (sort() != null) {
-                try {
-                    topDocsCollector = TopFieldCollector.create(sort(), topN, true, trackScores(), trackScores());
-                } catch (IOException e) {
-                    throw ExceptionsHelper.convertToElastic(e);
-                }
-            } else {
-                topDocsCollector = TopScoreDocCollector.create(topN);
-            }
-
             Filter rawParentFilter;
             if (parentObjectMapper == null) {
                 rawParentFilter = NonNestedDocsFilter.INSTANCE;
@@ -135,8 +123,26 @@ public TopDocs topDocs(SearchContext context, FetchSubPhase.HitContext hitContex
             BitDocIdSetFilter parentFilter = context.bitsetFilterCache().getBitDocIdSetFilter(rawParentFilter);
             Filter childFilter = context.filterCache().cache(childObjectMapper.nestedTypeFilter(), null, context.queryParserService().autoFilterCachePolicy());
             Query q = new FilteredQuery(query, new NestedChildrenFilter(parentFilter, childFilter, hitContext));
-            context.searcher().search(q, topDocsCollector);
-            return topDocsCollector.topDocs(from(), size());
+
+            if (size() == 0) {
+                TotalHitCountCollector collector = new TotalHitCountCollector();
+                context.searcher().search(q, collector);
+                return new TopDocs(collector.getTotalHits(), Lucene.EMPTY_SCORE_DOCS, 0);
+            } else {
+                int topN = from() + size();
+                TopDocsCollector topDocsCollector;
+                if (sort() != null) {
+                    try {
+                        topDocsCollector = TopFieldCollector.create(sort(), topN, true, trackScores(), trackScores());
+                    } catch (IOException e) {
+                        throw ExceptionsHelper.convertToElastic(e);
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    topDocsCollector = TopScoreDocCollector.create(topN);
+                }
+                context.searcher().search(q, topDocsCollector);
+                return topDocsCollector.topDocs(from(), size());
+            }
         }
 
         // A filter that only emits the nested children docs of a specific nested parent doc
@@ -250,14 +256,6 @@ public ParentChildInnerHits(SearchContext context, Query query, Map<String, Base
 
         @Override
         public TopDocs topDocs(SearchContext context, FetchSubPhase.HitContext hitContext) throws IOException {
-            TopDocsCollector topDocsCollector;
-            int topN = from() + size();
-            if (sort() != null) {
-                topDocsCollector = TopFieldCollector.create(sort(), topN, true, trackScores(), trackScores());
-            } else {
-                topDocsCollector = TopScoreDocCollector.create(topN);
-            }
-
             final String term;
             final String field;
             if (documentMapper.parentFieldMapper().active()) {
@@ -281,11 +279,28 @@ public TopDocs topDocs(SearchContext context, FetchSubPhase.HitContext hitContex
             }
             Filter filter = new TermFilter(new Term(field, term)); // Only include docs that have the current hit as parent
             Filter typeFilter = documentMapper.typeFilter(); // Only include docs that have this inner hits type.
-            context.searcher().search(
-                    new FilteredQuery(query, new AndFilter(Arrays.asList(filter, typeFilter))),
-                    topDocsCollector
-            );
-            return topDocsCollector.topDocs(from(), size());
+
+            if (size() == 0) {
+                TotalHitCountCollector collector = new TotalHitCountCollector();
+                context.searcher().search(
+                        new FilteredQuery(query, new AndFilter(Arrays.asList(filter, typeFilter))),
+                        collector
+                );
+                return new TopDocs(collector.getTotalHits(), Lucene.EMPTY_SCORE_DOCS, 0);
+            } else {
+                int topN = from() + size();
+                TopDocsCollector topDocsCollector;
+                if (sort() != null) {
+                    topDocsCollector = TopFieldCollector.create(sort(), topN, true, trackScores(), trackScores());
+                } else {
+                    topDocsCollector = TopScoreDocCollector.create(topN);
+                }
+                context.searcher().search(
+                        new FilteredQuery(query, new AndFilter(Arrays.asList(filter, typeFilter))),
+                        topDocsCollector
+                );
+                return topDocsCollector.topDocs(from(), size());
+            }
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/innerhits/InnerHitsTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/innerhits/InnerHitsTests.java
index ccb6cab66649e..def6eed468fa9 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/innerhits/InnerHitsTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/innerhits/InnerHitsTests.java
@@ -191,22 +191,23 @@ public void testRandomNested() throws Exception {
         }
         indexRandom(true, requestBuilders);
 
+        int size = randomIntBetween(0, numDocs);
         SearchResponse searchResponse;
         if (randomBoolean()) {
             searchResponse = client().prepareSearch("idx")
                     .setSize(numDocs)
                     .addSort("_uid", SortOrder.ASC)
-                    .addInnerHit("a", new InnerHitsBuilder.InnerHit().setPath("field1").addSort("_doc", SortOrder.DESC).setSize(numDocs)) // Sort order is DESC, because we reverse the inner objects during indexing!
-                    .addInnerHit("b", new InnerHitsBuilder.InnerHit().setPath("field2").addSort("_doc", SortOrder.DESC).setSize(numDocs))
+                    .addInnerHit("a", new InnerHitsBuilder.InnerHit().setPath("field1").addSort("_doc", SortOrder.DESC).setSize(size)) // Sort order is DESC, because we reverse the inner objects during indexing!
+                    .addInnerHit("b", new InnerHitsBuilder.InnerHit().setPath("field2").addSort("_doc", SortOrder.DESC).setSize(size))
                     .get();
         } else {
             BoolQueryBuilder boolQuery = new BoolQueryBuilder();
             if (randomBoolean()) {
-                boolQuery.should(nestedQuery("field1", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("a").addSort("_doc", SortOrder.DESC).setSize(numDocs)));
-                boolQuery.should(nestedQuery("field2", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("b").addSort("_doc", SortOrder.DESC).setSize(numDocs)));
+                boolQuery.should(nestedQuery("field1", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("a").addSort("_doc", SortOrder.DESC).setSize(size)));
+                boolQuery.should(nestedQuery("field2", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("b").addSort("_doc", SortOrder.DESC).setSize(size)));
             } else {
-                boolQuery.should(constantScoreQuery(nestedFilter("field1", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("a").addSort("_doc", SortOrder.DESC).setSize(numDocs))));
-                boolQuery.should(constantScoreQuery(nestedFilter("field2", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("b").addSort("_doc", SortOrder.DESC).setSize(numDocs))));
+                boolQuery.should(constantScoreQuery(nestedFilter("field1", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("a").addSort("_doc", SortOrder.DESC).setSize(size))));
+                boolQuery.should(constantScoreQuery(nestedFilter("field2", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("b").addSort("_doc", SortOrder.DESC).setSize(size))));
             }
             searchResponse = client().prepareSearch("idx")
                     .setQuery(boolQuery)
@@ -215,13 +216,14 @@ public void testRandomNested() throws Exception {
                     .get();
         }
 
+        assertNoFailures(searchResponse);
         assertHitCount(searchResponse, numDocs);
         assertThat(searchResponse.getHits().getHits().length, equalTo(numDocs));
         for (int i = 0; i < numDocs; i++) {
             SearchHit searchHit = searchResponse.getHits().getAt(i);
             SearchHits inner = searchHit.getInnerHits().get("a");
             assertThat(inner.totalHits(), equalTo((long) field1InnerObjects[i]));
-            for (int j = 0; j < field1InnerObjects[i]; j++) {
+            for (int j = 0; j < field1InnerObjects[i] && j < size; j++) {
                 SearchHit innerHit =  inner.getAt(j);
                 assertThat(innerHit.getNestedIdentity().getField().string(), equalTo("field1"));
                 assertThat(innerHit.getNestedIdentity().getOffset(), equalTo(j));
@@ -230,7 +232,7 @@ public void testRandomNested() throws Exception {
 
             inner = searchHit.getInnerHits().get("b");
             assertThat(inner.totalHits(), equalTo((long) field2InnerObjects[i]));
-            for (int j = 0; j < field2InnerObjects[i]; j++) {
+            for (int j = 0; j < field2InnerObjects[i] && j < size; j++) {
                 SearchHit innerHit =  inner.getAt(j);
                 assertThat(innerHit.getNestedIdentity().getField().string(), equalTo("field2"));
                 assertThat(innerHit.getNestedIdentity().getOffset(), equalTo(j));
@@ -373,23 +375,24 @@ public void testRandomParentChild() throws Exception {
         }
         indexRandom(true, requestBuilders);
 
+        int size = randomIntBetween(0, numDocs);
         SearchResponse searchResponse;
         if (randomBoolean()) {
             searchResponse = client().prepareSearch("idx")
                     .setSize(numDocs)
                     .setTypes("parent")
                     .addSort("_uid", SortOrder.ASC)
-                    .addInnerHit("a", new InnerHitsBuilder.InnerHit().setType("child1").addSort("_uid", SortOrder.ASC).setSize(numDocs))
-                    .addInnerHit("b", new InnerHitsBuilder.InnerHit().setType("child2").addSort("_uid", SortOrder.ASC).setSize(numDocs))
+                    .addInnerHit("a", new InnerHitsBuilder.InnerHit().setType("child1").addSort("_uid", SortOrder.ASC).setSize(size))
+                    .addInnerHit("b", new InnerHitsBuilder.InnerHit().setType("child2").addSort("_uid", SortOrder.ASC).setSize(size))
                     .get();
         } else {
             BoolQueryBuilder boolQuery = new BoolQueryBuilder();
             if (randomBoolean()) {
-                boolQuery.should(hasChildQuery("child1", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("a").addSort("_uid", SortOrder.ASC).setSize(numDocs)));
-                boolQuery.should(hasChildQuery("child2", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("b").addSort("_uid", SortOrder.ASC).setSize(numDocs)));
+                boolQuery.should(hasChildQuery("child1", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("a").addSort("_uid", SortOrder.ASC).setSize(size)));
+                boolQuery.should(hasChildQuery("child2", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("b").addSort("_uid", SortOrder.ASC).setSize(size)));
             } else {
-                boolQuery.should(constantScoreQuery(hasChildFilter("child1", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("a").addSort("_uid", SortOrder.ASC).setSize(numDocs))));
-                boolQuery.should(constantScoreQuery(hasChildFilter("child2", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("b").addSort("_uid", SortOrder.ASC).setSize(numDocs))));
+                boolQuery.should(constantScoreQuery(hasChildFilter("child1", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("a").addSort("_uid", SortOrder.ASC).setSize(size))));
+                boolQuery.should(constantScoreQuery(hasChildFilter("child2", matchAllQuery()).innerHit(new QueryInnerHitBuilder().setName("b").addSort("_uid", SortOrder.ASC).setSize(size))));
             }
             searchResponse = client().prepareSearch("idx")
                     .setSize(numDocs)
@@ -399,6 +402,7 @@ public void testRandomParentChild() throws Exception {
                     .get();
         }
 
+        assertNoFailures(searchResponse);
         assertHitCount(searchResponse, numDocs);
         assertThat(searchResponse.getHits().getHits().length, equalTo(numDocs));
 
@@ -411,7 +415,7 @@ public void testRandomParentChild() throws Exception {
 
             SearchHits inner = searchHit.getInnerHits().get("a");
             assertThat(inner.totalHits(), equalTo((long) child1InnerObjects[parent]));
-            for (int child = 0; child < child1InnerObjects[parent]; child++) {
+            for (int child = 0; child < child1InnerObjects[parent] && child < size; child++) {
                 SearchHit innerHit =  inner.getAt(child);
                 assertThat(innerHit.getType(), equalTo("child1"));
                 String childId = String.format(Locale.ENGLISH, "%04d", offset1 + child);
@@ -422,7 +426,7 @@ public void testRandomParentChild() throws Exception {
 
             inner = searchHit.getInnerHits().get("b");
             assertThat(inner.totalHits(), equalTo((long) child2InnerObjects[parent]));
-            for (int child = 0; child < child2InnerObjects[parent]; child++) {
+            for (int child = 0; child < child2InnerObjects[parent] && child < size; child++) {
                 SearchHit innerHit = inner.getAt(child);
                 assertThat(innerHit.getType(), equalTo("child2"));
                 String childId = String.format(Locale.ENGLISH, "%04d", offset2 + child);