diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/ShardSearchRequest.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/ShardSearchRequest.java
index c61a4ef3f0d8c..5f1592a98af5c 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/ShardSearchRequest.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/internal/ShardSearchRequest.java
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ public ShardSearchRequest(
         this.waitForCheckpoint = waitForCheckpoint;
         this.waitForCheckpointsTimeout = waitForCheckpointsTimeout;
         this.forceSyntheticSource = forceSyntheticSource;
-        this.innerHitsDisabled = source.innerHitsDisabled();
+        this.innerHitsDisabled = source != null && source.innerHitsDisabled();
     }
 
     @SuppressWarnings("this-escape")