diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-doc-mapper/src/query_builder.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-doc-mapper/src/query_builder.rs
index dbc663794e5..fd1054ab850 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-doc-mapper/src/query_builder.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-doc-mapper/src/query_builder.rs
@@ -248,7 +248,9 @@ impl<'a, 'b: 'a> QueryAstVisitor<'a> for ExtractPrefixTermRanges<'b> {
     ) -> Result<(), Self::Err> {
         let terms = match phrase_prefix.get_terms(self.schema, self.tokenizer_manager) {
             Ok((_, terms)) => terms,
-            Err(InvalidQuery::SchemaError(_)) => return Ok(()), /* the query will be nullified when casting to a tantivy ast */
+            Err(InvalidQuery::SchemaError(_)) | Err(InvalidQuery::FieldDoesNotExist { .. }) => {
+                return Ok(())
+            } /* the query will be nullified when casting to a tantivy ast */
             Err(e) => return Err(e),
         };
         if let Some((_, term)) = terms.last() {
@@ -258,7 +260,12 @@ impl<'a, 'b: 'a> QueryAstVisitor<'a> for ExtractPrefixTermRanges<'b> {
     }
 
     fn visit_wildcard(&mut self, wildcard_query: &'a WildcardQuery) -> Result<(), Self::Err> {
-        let (_, term) = wildcard_query.extract_prefix_term(self.schema, self.tokenizer_manager)?;
+        let term = match wildcard_query.extract_prefix_term(self.schema, self.tokenizer_manager) {
+            Ok((_, term)) => term,
+            /* the query will be nullified when casting to a tantivy ast */
+            Err(InvalidQuery::FieldDoesNotExist { .. }) => return Ok(()),
+            Err(e) => return Err(e),
+        };
         self.add_prefix_term(term, u32::MAX, false);
         Ok(())
     }
diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/elastic_query_dsl/phrase_prefix_query.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/elastic_query_dsl/phrase_prefix_query.rs
index 3955a175c64..4579b6530bf 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/elastic_query_dsl/phrase_prefix_query.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/elastic_query_dsl/phrase_prefix_query.rs
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ impl ConvertibleToQueryAst for MatchPhrasePrefixQuery {
             phrase: query,
             params: analyzer,
             max_expansions,
+            lenient: false,
         };
         Ok(phrase_prefix_query_ast.into())
     }
diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/query_ast/phrase_prefix_query.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/query_ast/phrase_prefix_query.rs
index d0107f885f9..cf066f04c27 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/query_ast/phrase_prefix_query.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/query_ast/phrase_prefix_query.rs
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ pub struct PhrasePrefixQuery {
     pub phrase: String,
     pub max_expansions: u32,
     pub params: FullTextParams,
+    pub lenient: bool,
 }
 
 impl PhrasePrefixQuery {
@@ -117,7 +118,13 @@ impl BuildTantivyAst for PhrasePrefixQuery {
         _search_fields: &[String],
         _with_validation: bool,
     ) -> Result<TantivyQueryAst, InvalidQuery> {
-        let (_, terms) = self.get_terms(schema, tokenizer_manager)?;
+        let (_, terms) = match self.get_terms(schema, tokenizer_manager) {
+            Ok(res) => res,
+            Err(InvalidQuery::FieldDoesNotExist { .. }) if self.lenient => {
+                return Ok(crate::MatchAllOrNone::MatchNone.into())
+            }
+            Err(e) => return Err(e),
+        };
 
         if terms.is_empty() {
             if self.params.zero_terms_query.is_none() {
diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/query_ast/user_input_query.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/query_ast/user_input_query.rs
index 8a910567982..cebb5ed0adc 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/query_ast/user_input_query.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/query_ast/user_input_query.rs
@@ -273,12 +273,14 @@ fn convert_user_input_literal(
                     phrase: phrase.clone(),
                     params: full_text_params.clone(),
                     max_expansions: DEFAULT_PHRASE_QUERY_MAX_EXPANSION,
+                    lenient,
                 }
                 .into()
             } else if wildcard {
                 query_ast::WildcardQuery {
                     field: field_name,
                     value: phrase.clone(),
+                    lenient,
                 }
                 .into()
             } else {
diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/query_ast/wildcard_query.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/query_ast/wildcard_query.rs
index 86afb68a7d3..4bb24c4fd09 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/query_ast/wildcard_query.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-query/src/query_ast/wildcard_query.rs
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ use crate::{find_field_or_hit_dynamic, InvalidQuery};
 pub struct WildcardQuery {
     pub field: String,
     pub value: String,
+    pub lenient: bool,
 }
 
 impl From<WildcardQuery> for QueryAst {
@@ -190,7 +191,13 @@ impl BuildTantivyAst for WildcardQuery {
         _search_fields: &[String],
         _with_validation: bool,
     ) -> Result<TantivyQueryAst, InvalidQuery> {
-        let (_, term) = self.extract_prefix_term(schema, tokenizer_manager)?;
+        let (_, term) = match self.extract_prefix_term(schema, tokenizer_manager) {
+            Ok(res) => res,
+            Err(InvalidQuery::FieldDoesNotExist { .. }) if self.lenient => {
+                return Ok(crate::MatchAllOrNone::MatchNone.into())
+            }
+            Err(e) => return Err(e),
+        };
 
         let mut phrase_prefix_query =
             tantivy::query::PhrasePrefixQuery::new_with_offset(vec![(0, term)]);