diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/queries/WeightedTokensQueryBuilder.java b/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/queries/WeightedTokensQueryBuilder.java
index 000129f8b054d..7581aa3280b8c 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/queries/WeightedTokensQueryBuilder.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/queries/WeightedTokensQueryBuilder.java
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ public WeightedTokensQueryBuilder(String fieldName,
 
   public WeightedTokensQueryBuilder(String fieldName,
                                     List<WeightedToken> tokens,
-                                    int ratioThreshold, float weightThreshold) {
+                                    int ratioThreshold,
+                                    float weightThreshold) {
     this.fieldName = Objects.requireNonNull(fieldName, "[" + NAME + "] requires a fieldName");
     this.tokens = Objects.requireNonNull(tokens, "[" + NAME + "] requires tokens");
     this.ratioThreshold = ratioThreshold;
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ protected void doXContent(XContentBuilder builder, Params params) throws IOExcep
     builder.endObject();
   }
 
-  private float getAverageTokenFreq(IndexReader reader) throws IOException {
+  private float getAverageTokenFreqRatio(IndexReader reader, int fieldDocCount) throws IOException {
     int numUniqueTokens = 0;
     for (var leaf : reader.getContext().leaves()) {
       var terms = leaf.reader().terms(fieldName);
@@ -126,7 +127,7 @@ private float getAverageTokenFreq(IndexReader reader) throws IOException {
     if (numUniqueTokens == 0) {
       return 0;
     }
-    return (float) reader.getSumDocFreq(fieldName) / reader.getDocCount(fieldName) / numUniqueTokens;
+    return (float) reader.getSumDocFreq(fieldName) / fieldDocCount / numUniqueTokens;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -136,21 +137,24 @@ private float getAverageTokenFreq(IndexReader reader) throws IOException {
   private boolean shouldKeepToken(IndexReader reader,
                                   WeightedToken token,
                                   int fieldDocCount,
-                                  float averageTokenFreq,
+                                  float averageTokenFreqRatio,
                                   float bestWeight) throws IOException {
+    if (ratioThreshold <= 0) {
+      return true;
+    }
     int docFreq = reader.docFreq(new Term(fieldName, token.token()));
     if (docFreq == 0) {
       return false;
     }
-    float tokenFreq = (float) docFreq / fieldDocCount;
-    return tokenFreq < ratioThreshold * averageTokenFreq
+    float tokenFreqRatio = (float) docFreq / fieldDocCount;
+    return tokenFreqRatio < ratioThreshold * averageTokenFreqRatio
             || token.weight() > weightThreshold * bestWeight;
   }
 
   @Override
   protected Query doToQuery(SearchExecutionContext context) throws IOException {
-    final MappedFieldType mapper = context.getFieldType(fieldName);
-    if (mapper == null) {
+    final MappedFieldType ft = context.getFieldType(fieldName);
+    if (ft == null) {
       return new MatchNoDocsQuery("The \"" + getName() + "\" query is against a field that does not exist");
     }
     var qb = new BooleanQuery.Builder();
@@ -159,13 +163,13 @@ protected Query doToQuery(SearchExecutionContext context) throws IOException {
     for (var t : tokens) {
       bestWeight = Math.max(t.weight(), bestWeight);
     }
-    float averageTokenFreq = getAverageTokenFreq(context.getIndexReader());
-    if (averageTokenFreq == 0) {
+    float averageTokenFreqRatio = getAverageTokenFreqRatio(context.getIndexReader(), fieldDocCount);
+    if (averageTokenFreqRatio == 0) {
       return new MatchNoDocsQuery("The \"" + getName() + "\" query is against an empty field");
     }
     for (var token : tokens) {
-      if (shouldKeepToken(context.getIndexReader(), token, fieldDocCount, averageTokenFreq, bestWeight)) {
-        qb.add(new BoostQuery(mapper.termQuery(token.token(), context), token.weight()), BooleanClause.Occur.SHOULD);
+      if (shouldKeepToken(context.getIndexReader(), token, fieldDocCount, averageTokenFreqRatio, bestWeight)) {
+        qb.add(new BoostQuery(ft.termQuery(token.token(), context), token.weight()), BooleanClause.Occur.SHOULD);
       }
     }
     return qb.build();