diff --git a/milli/src/update/index_documents/extract/extract_docid_word_positions.rs b/milli/src/update/index_documents/extract/extract_docid_word_positions.rs
index ac041a8b0..1c24a0fcf 100644
--- a/milli/src/update/index_documents/extract/extract_docid_word_positions.rs
+++ b/milli/src/update/index_documents/extract/extract_docid_word_positions.rs
@@ -226,9 +226,9 @@ fn process_tokens<'a>(
 ) -> impl Iterator<Item = (usize, Token<'a>)> {
     tokens
         .skip_while(|token| token.is_separator())
-        .scan((0, None), |(offset, prev_kind), token| {
+        .scan((0, None), |(offset, prev_kind), mut token| {
             match token.kind {
-                TokenKind::Word | TokenKind::StopWord | TokenKind::Unknown => {
+                TokenKind::Word | TokenKind::StopWord if !token.lemma().is_empty() => {
                     *offset += match *prev_kind {
                         Some(TokenKind::Separator(SeparatorKind::Hard)) => 8,
                         Some(_) => 1,
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ fn process_tokens<'a>(
                 {
                     *prev_kind = Some(token.kind);
                 }
-                _ => (),
+                _ => token.kind = TokenKind::Unknown,
             }
             Some((*offset, token))
         })
diff --git a/milli/src/update/settings.rs b/milli/src/update/settings.rs
index 7e52c04c1..b0452315d 100644
--- a/milli/src/update/settings.rs
+++ b/milli/src/update/settings.rs
@@ -573,7 +573,7 @@ impl<'a, 't, 'u, 'i> Settings<'a, 't, 'u, 'i> {
                     tokenizer
                         .tokenize(text)
                         .filter_map(|token| {
-                            if token.is_word() {
+                            if token.is_word() && !token.lemma().is_empty() {
                                 Some(token.lemma().to_string())
                             } else {
                                 None
@@ -1422,6 +1422,43 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(result.documents_ids.is_empty());
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn thai_synonyms() {
+        let mut index = TempIndex::new();
+        index.index_documents_config.autogenerate_docids = true;
+
+        let mut wtxn = index.write_txn().unwrap();
+        // Send 3 documents with ids from 1 to 3.
+        index
+            .add_documents_using_wtxn(
+                &mut wtxn,
+                documents!([
+                    { "name": "ยี่ปุ่น" },
+                    { "name": "ญี่ปุ่น" },
+                ]),
+            )
+            .unwrap();
+
+        // In the same transaction provide some synonyms
+        index
+            .update_settings_using_wtxn(&mut wtxn, |settings| {
+                settings.set_synonyms(btreemap! {
+                    "japanese".to_string() => vec![S("ญี่ปุ่น"), S("ยี่ปุ่น")],
+                });
+            })
+            .unwrap();
+        wtxn.commit().unwrap();
+
+        // Ensure synonyms are effectively stored
+        let rtxn = index.read_txn().unwrap();
+        let synonyms = index.synonyms(&rtxn).unwrap();
+        assert!(!synonyms.is_empty()); // at this point the index should return something
+
+        // Check that we can use synonyms
+        let result = index.search(&rtxn).query("japanese").execute().unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(result.documents_ids.len(), 2);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn setting_searchable_recomputes_other_settings() {
         let index = TempIndex::new();