diff --git a/hnswlib/bruteforce.h b/hnswlib/bruteforce.h
index 30b33ae9..8cf4acf9 100644
--- a/hnswlib/bruteforce.h
+++ b/hnswlib/bruteforce.h
@@ -96,6 +96,10 @@ class BruteforceSearch : public AlgorithmInterface<dist_t> {
         cur_element_count--;
     }
 
+    std::priority_queue<std::pair<dist_t, labeltype >>
+    searchKnn(const void *query_data, size_t k, const size_t ef, BaseFilterFunctor* isIdAllowed = nullptr) const {
+        return searchKnn(query_data, k, isIdAllowed);
+    }
 
     std::priority_queue<std::pair<dist_t, labeltype >>
     searchKnn(const void *query_data, size_t k, BaseFilterFunctor* isIdAllowed = nullptr) const {
diff --git a/hnswlib/hnswalg.h b/hnswlib/hnswalg.h
index f7d7f264..e9e4f7f3 100644
--- a/hnswlib/hnswalg.h
+++ b/hnswlib/hnswalg.h
@@ -1173,9 +1173,14 @@ class HierarchicalNSW : public AlgorithmInterface<dist_t> {
         return cur_c;
     }
 
-
     std::priority_queue<std::pair<dist_t, labeltype >>
     searchKnn(const void *query_data, size_t k, BaseFilterFunctor* isIdAllowed = nullptr) const {
+        return searchKnn(query_data, k, this->ef_, isIdAllowed);
+    }
+
+
+    std::priority_queue<std::pair<dist_t, labeltype >>
+    searchKnn(const void *query_data, size_t k, const size_t ef, BaseFilterFunctor* isIdAllowed = nullptr) const {
         std::priority_queue<std::pair<dist_t, labeltype >> result;
         if (cur_element_count == 0) return result;
 
@@ -1210,10 +1215,10 @@ class HierarchicalNSW : public AlgorithmInterface<dist_t> {
         std::priority_queue<std::pair<dist_t, tableint>, std::vector<std::pair<dist_t, tableint>>, CompareByFirst> top_candidates;
         if (num_deleted_) {
             top_candidates = searchBaseLayerST<true, true>(
-                    currObj, query_data, std::max(ef_, k), isIdAllowed);
+                    currObj, query_data, std::max(ef, k), isIdAllowed);
         } else {
             top_candidates = searchBaseLayerST<false, true>(
-                    currObj, query_data, std::max(ef_, k), isIdAllowed);
+                    currObj, query_data, std::max(ef, k), isIdAllowed);
         }
 
         while (top_candidates.size() > k) {
diff --git a/hnswlib/hnswlib.h b/hnswlib/hnswlib.h
index fb7118fa..b93c2599 100644
--- a/hnswlib/hnswlib.h
+++ b/hnswlib/hnswlib.h
@@ -160,6 +160,9 @@ class AlgorithmInterface {
  public:
     virtual void addPoint(const void *datapoint, labeltype label, bool replace_deleted = false) = 0;
 
+    virtual std::priority_queue<std::pair<dist_t, labeltype>>
+        searchKnn(const void*, size_t, const size_t ef_, BaseFilterFunctor* isIdAllowed = nullptr) const = 0;
+    
     virtual std::priority_queue<std::pair<dist_t, labeltype>>
         searchKnn(const void*, size_t, BaseFilterFunctor* isIdAllowed = nullptr) const = 0;
 
@@ -167,11 +170,34 @@ class AlgorithmInterface {
     virtual std::vector<std::pair<dist_t, labeltype>>
         searchKnnCloserFirst(const void* query_data, size_t k, BaseFilterFunctor* isIdAllowed = nullptr) const;
 
+    virtual std::vector<std::pair<dist_t, labeltype>>
+        searchKnnCloserFirst(const void* query_data, size_t k, const size_t ef, BaseFilterFunctor* isIdAllowed = nullptr) const;
+
     virtual void saveIndex(const std::string &location) = 0;
     virtual ~AlgorithmInterface(){
     }
 };
 
+template<typename dist_t>
+std::vector<std::pair<dist_t, labeltype>>
+AlgorithmInterface<dist_t>::searchKnnCloserFirst(const void* query_data, size_t k,
+                                                 const size_t ef, BaseFilterFunctor* isIdAllowed) const {
+    std::vector<std::pair<dist_t, labeltype>> result;
+
+    // here searchKnn returns the result in the order of further first
+    auto ret = searchKnn(query_data, k, ef, isIdAllowed);
+    {
+        size_t sz = ret.size();
+        result.resize(sz);
+        while (!ret.empty()) {
+            result[--sz] = ret.top();
+            ret.pop();
+        }
+    }
+
+    return result;
+}
+
 template<typename dist_t>
 std::vector<std::pair<dist_t, labeltype>>
 AlgorithmInterface<dist_t>::searchKnnCloserFirst(const void* query_data, size_t k,