diff --git a/milli/src/search/criteria/proximity.rs b/milli/src/search/criteria/proximity.rs
index 5aa3cc8b3..5f414d84c 100644
--- a/milli/src/search/criteria/proximity.rs
+++ b/milli/src/search/criteria/proximity.rs
@@ -478,14 +478,29 @@ fn resolve_plane_sweep_candidates(
             }
             Phrase(words) => {
                 let mut groups_positions = Vec::with_capacity(words.len());
-                for word in words.iter().filter_map(|w| w.as_ref()) {
-                    let positions = match words_positions.get(word) {
-                        Some(positions) => positions.iter().map(|p| (p, 0, p)).collect(),
-                        None => return Ok(vec![]),
-                    };
-                    groups_positions.push(positions);
+                let mut consecutive = true;
+                let mut was_last_word_a_stop_word = false;
+                for word in words.iter() {
+                    if let Some(word) = word {
+                        let positions = match words_positions.get(word) {
+                            Some(positions) => positions.iter().map(|p| (p, 0, p)).collect(),
+                            None => return Ok(vec![]),
+                        };
+                        groups_positions.push(positions);
+
+                        if was_last_word_a_stop_word {
+                            consecutive = false;
+                        }
+                        was_last_word_a_stop_word = false;
+                    } else {
+                        if !was_last_word_a_stop_word {
+                            consecutive = false;
+                        }
+
+                        was_last_word_a_stop_word = true;
+                    }
                 }
-                plane_sweep(groups_positions, true)?
+                plane_sweep(groups_positions, consecutive)?
             }
             Or(_, ops) => {
                 let mut result = Vec::new();