diff --git a/backend/open_webui/retrieval/utils.py b/backend/open_webui/retrieval/utils.py
index 965b49b88..df53da78d 100644
--- a/backend/open_webui/retrieval/utils.py
+++ b/backend/open_webui/retrieval/utils.py
@@ -139,10 +139,20 @@ def query_doc_with_hybrid_search(
         )
 
         result = compression_retriever.invoke(query)
+
+        distances = [d.metadata.get("score") for d in result]
+        documents = [d.page_content for d in result]
+        metadatas = [d.metadata for d in result]
+
+        # retrieve only min(k, k_reranker) items, sort and cut by distance if k < k_reranker
+        if k < k_reranker:
+            sorted_items = sorted(zip(distances, metadatas, documents), key=lambda x: x[0], reverse=True)
+            sorted_items = sorted_items[:k]
+            distances, documents, metadatas = map(list, zip(*sorted_items))
         result = {
-            "distances": [[d.metadata.get("score") for d in result]],
-            "documents": [[d.page_content for d in result]],
-            "metadatas": [[d.metadata for d in result]],
+            "distances": [distances],
+            "documents": [documents]
+            "metadatas": [metadatas],
         }
 
         log.info(