diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3386d9c2666..7b31656cc51 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -563,7 +563,7 @@ nouveau-test: nouveau-test-gradle nouveau-test-elixir
 .PHONY: nouveau-test-gradle
 nouveau-test-gradle: couch nouveau
 ifeq ($(with_nouveau), true)
-	@cd nouveau && ./gradlew test --info
+	@cd nouveau && ./gradlew test --info --rerun
 endif
 
 .PHONY: nouveau-test-elixir
diff --git a/Makefile.win b/Makefile.win
index 219f9bd91ed..183498d90a8 100644
--- a/Makefile.win
+++ b/Makefile.win
@@ -526,7 +526,7 @@ nouveau-test: nouveau-test-gradle nouveau-test-elixir
 .PHONY: nouveau-test-gradle
 nouveau-test-gradle: couch nouveau
 ifeq ($(with_nouveau), true)
-	@cd nouveau && .\gradlew test --info
+	@cd nouveau && .\gradlew test --info --rerun
 endif
 
 .PHONY: nouveau-test-elixir
diff --git a/nouveau/src/main/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/api/SearchRequest.java b/nouveau/src/main/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/api/SearchRequest.java
index 2fc9e1f6968..155e8efb4bb 100644
--- a/nouveau/src/main/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/api/SearchRequest.java
+++ b/nouveau/src/main/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/api/SearchRequest.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import jakarta.validation.constraints.NotEmpty;
 import jakarta.validation.constraints.NotNull;
 import jakarta.validation.constraints.Positive;
+import jakarta.validation.constraints.PositiveOrZero;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -32,6 +33,12 @@ public class SearchRequest {
     @NotNull
     private String query;
 
+    @PositiveOrZero
+    private long minUpdateSeq;
+
+    @PositiveOrZero
+    private long minPurgeSeq;
+
     private Locale locale;
 
     private String partition;
@@ -64,6 +71,24 @@ public String getQuery() {
         return query;
     }
 
+    public void setMinUpdateSeq(final long minUpdateSeq) {
+        this.minUpdateSeq = minUpdateSeq;
+    }
+
+    @JsonProperty
+    public long getMinUpdateSeq() {
+        return minUpdateSeq;
+    }
+
+    public void setMinPurgeSeq(final long minPurgeSeq) {
+        this.minPurgeSeq = minPurgeSeq;
+    }
+
+    @JsonProperty
+    public long getMinPurgeSeq() {
+        return minPurgeSeq;
+    }
+
     public void setLocale(final Locale locale) {
         this.locale = locale;
     }
@@ -154,7 +179,8 @@ public PrimitiveWrapper<?>[] getAfter() {
 
     @Override
     public String toString() {
-        return "SearchRequest [query=" + query + ", locale=" + locale + ", sort=" + sort + ", limit=" + limit
-                + ", after=" + after + ", counts=" + counts + ", ranges=" + ranges + "]";
+        return "SearchRequest [query=" + query + ", min_update_seq=" + minUpdateSeq + ", min_purge_seq=" + minPurgeSeq
+                + ", locale=" + locale + ", sort=" + sort + ", limit=" + limit + ", after=" + after + ", counts="
+                + counts + ", ranges=" + ranges + "]";
     }
 }
diff --git a/nouveau/src/main/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/core/Index.java b/nouveau/src/main/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/core/Index.java
index 4e27acbb564..b278fe6a42e 100644
--- a/nouveau/src/main/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/core/Index.java
+++ b/nouveau/src/main/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/core/Index.java
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ public final synchronized void delete(final String docId, final DocumentDeleteRe
     protected abstract void doDelete(final String docId, final DocumentDeleteRequest request) throws IOException;
 
     public final SearchResults search(final SearchRequest request) throws IOException {
+        assertMinSeqs(request.getMinUpdateSeq(), request.getMinPurgeSeq());
         return doSearch(request);
     }
 
@@ -182,4 +183,13 @@ protected final void incrementPurgeSeq(final long matchSeq, final long purgeSeq)
         assertPurgeSeqProgress(matchSeq, purgeSeq);
         this.purgeSeq = purgeSeq;
     }
+
+    protected final void assertMinSeqs(final long minUpdateSeq, final long minPurgeSeq) throws StaleIndexException {
+        if (this.updateSeq < minUpdateSeq) {
+            throw new StaleIndexException(false, minUpdateSeq, this.updateSeq);
+        }
+        if (this.purgeSeq < minPurgeSeq) {
+            throw new StaleIndexException(true, minPurgeSeq, this.purgeSeq);
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/nouveau/src/main/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/core/IndexManager.java b/nouveau/src/main/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/core/IndexManager.java
index f6bfaccc378..f434d5169fb 100644
--- a/nouveau/src/main/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/core/IndexManager.java
+++ b/nouveau/src/main/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/core/IndexManager.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import com.github.benmanes.caffeine.cache.Scheduler;
 import com.github.benmanes.caffeine.cache.Weigher;
 import io.dropwizard.lifecycle.Managed;
+import jakarta.validation.constraints.PositiveOrZero;
 import jakarta.ws.rs.WebApplicationException;
 import jakarta.ws.rs.core.Response.Status;
 import java.io.File;
@@ -68,10 +69,13 @@ public interface IndexFunction<V, R> {
 
     private static final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(IndexManager.class);
 
+    @PositiveOrZero
     private int maxIndexesOpen;
 
+    @PositiveOrZero
     private int commitIntervalSeconds;
 
+    @PositiveOrZero
     private int idleSeconds;
 
     private Path rootDir;
diff --git a/nouveau/src/main/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/core/StaleIndexException.java b/nouveau/src/main/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/core/StaleIndexException.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..605802894b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nouveau/src/main/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/core/StaleIndexException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package org.apache.couchdb.nouveau.core;
+
+import jakarta.ws.rs.WebApplicationException;
+import jakarta.ws.rs.core.Response.Status;
+
+public final class StaleIndexException extends WebApplicationException {
+
+    public StaleIndexException(final boolean purge, final long minSeq, final long actualSeq) {
+        super(
+                String.format(
+                        "index is stale (%s seq needs to be at least %d but is %d)",
+                        purge ? "purge" : "index", minSeq, actualSeq),
+                Status.CONFLICT);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/nouveau/src/test/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/health/IndexHealthCheckTest.java b/nouveau/src/test/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/health/IndexHealthCheckTest.java
index 61947dc7d84..d282de5681f 100644
--- a/nouveau/src/test/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/health/IndexHealthCheckTest.java
+++ b/nouveau/src/test/java/org/apache/couchdb/nouveau/health/IndexHealthCheckTest.java
@@ -30,9 +30,11 @@ public class IndexHealthCheckTest {
     @Test
     public void testIndexHealthCheck(@TempDir final Path tempDir) throws Exception {
         var manager = new IndexManager();
-        manager.setCommitIntervalSeconds(1);
-        manager.setObjectMapper(new ObjectMapper());
+        manager.setCommitIntervalSeconds(30);
+        manager.setIdleSeconds(60);
+        manager.setMaxIndexesOpen(1);
         manager.setMetricRegistry(new MetricRegistry());
+        manager.setObjectMapper(new ObjectMapper());
         manager.setRootDir(tempDir);
         manager.setScheduler(Scheduler.systemScheduler());
         manager.setSearcherFactory(new SearcherFactory());
diff --git a/src/nouveau/src/nouveau_api.erl b/src/nouveau/src/nouveau_api.erl
index 57de204f2d9..b01ef0f322b 100644
--- a/src/nouveau/src/nouveau_api.erl
+++ b/src/nouveau/src/nouveau_api.erl
@@ -174,6 +174,9 @@ search(#index{} = Index, QueryArgs) ->
     case Resp of
         {ok, "200", _, RespBody} ->
             {ok, jiffy:decode(RespBody, [return_maps])};
+        {ok, "409", _, _} ->
+            %% Index was not current enough.
+            {error, stale_index};
         {ok, StatusCode, _, RespBody} ->
             {error, jaxrs_error(StatusCode, RespBody)};
         {error, Reason} ->
@@ -186,6 +189,7 @@ set_update_seq(ConnPid, #index{} = Index, MatchSeq, UpdateSeq) ->
         update_seq => UpdateSeq
     },
     set_seq(ConnPid, Index, ReqBody).
+
 set_purge_seq(ConnPid, #index{} = Index, MatchSeq, PurgeSeq) ->
     ReqBody = #{
         match_purge_seq => MatchSeq,
diff --git a/src/nouveau/src/nouveau_index_updater.erl b/src/nouveau/src/nouveau_index_updater.erl
index 1d11e98b4d5..efed245db48 100644
--- a/src/nouveau/src/nouveau_index_updater.erl
+++ b/src/nouveau/src/nouveau_index_updater.erl
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 -include("nouveau.hrl").
 
 %% public api
--export([outdated/1]).
+-export([outdated/1, get_db_info/1]).
 
 %% callbacks
 -export([update/1]).
diff --git a/src/nouveau/src/nouveau_rpc.erl b/src/nouveau/src/nouveau_rpc.erl
index 02f9ce90b10..85adf5b39e3 100644
--- a/src/nouveau/src/nouveau_rpc.erl
+++ b/src/nouveau/src/nouveau_rpc.erl
@@ -24,10 +24,19 @@
 -include("nouveau.hrl").
 -import(nouveau_util, [index_path/1]).
 
-search(DbName, #index{} = Index0, QueryArgs) ->
+search(DbName, #index{} = Index0, QueryArgs0) ->
     %% Incorporate the shard name into the record.
     Index1 = Index0#index{dbname = DbName},
-    Update = maps:get(update, QueryArgs, true),
+
+    %% get minimum seqs for search
+    {MinUpdateSeq, MinPurgeSeq} = nouveau_index_updater:get_db_info(Index1),
+
+    %% Incorporate min seqs into the query args.
+    QueryArgs1 = QueryArgs0#{
+        min_update_seq => MinUpdateSeq,
+        min_purge_seq => MinPurgeSeq
+    },
+    Update = maps:get(update, QueryArgs1, true),
 
     %% check if index is up to date
     case Update andalso nouveau_index_updater:outdated(Index1) of
@@ -45,7 +54,13 @@ search(DbName, #index{} = Index0, QueryArgs) ->
     end,
 
     %% Run the search
-    rexi:reply(nouveau_api:search(Index1, QueryArgs)).
+    case nouveau_api:search(Index1, QueryArgs1) of
+        {error, stale_index} ->
+            %% try again.
+            search(DbName, Index0, QueryArgs0);
+        Else ->
+            rexi:reply(Else)
+    end.
 
 info(DbName, #index{} = Index0) ->
     %% Incorporate the shard name into the record.