diff --git a/core/formats/formats_burst_trie.cpp b/core/formats/formats_burst_trie.cpp
index 644537ac3..8fc19c1ff 100644
--- a/core/formats/formats_burst_trie.cpp
+++ b/core/formats/formats_burst_trie.cpp
@@ -3208,7 +3208,8 @@ class field_reader final : public irs::field_reader {
 
     size_t read_documents(bytes_view term,
                           std::span<doc_id_t> docs) const final {
-      if (IRS_UNLIKELY(docs.empty())) {
+      // Order is important here!
+      if (max() < term || term < min() || docs.empty()) {
         return 0;
       }