diff --git a/docs/changelog/123610.yaml b/docs/changelog/123610.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..628d832f903dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/123610.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+pr: 123610
+summary: Disable concurrency when `top_hits` sorts on anything but `_score`
+area: "Aggregations"
+type: bug
+issues: []
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/metrics/TopHitsAggregationBuilder.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/metrics/TopHitsAggregationBuilder.java
index 2ec30b411928a..9f6f98a4c8fb0 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/metrics/TopHitsAggregationBuilder.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/metrics/TopHitsAggregationBuilder.java
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.function.ToLongFunction;
 
 public class TopHitsAggregationBuilder extends AbstractAggregationBuilder<TopHitsAggregationBuilder> {
     public static final String NAME = "top_hits";
@@ -822,4 +823,18 @@ public String getType() {
     public TransportVersion getMinimalSupportedVersion() {
         return TransportVersions.ZERO;
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean supportsParallelCollection(ToLongFunction<String> fieldCardinalityResolver) {
+        if (sorts != null) {
+            // the implicit sorting is by _score, which supports parallel collection
+            for (SortBuilder<?> sortBuilder : sorts) {
+                if (sortBuilder.supportsParallelCollection() == false) {
+                    return false;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        return super.supportsParallelCollection(fieldCardinalityResolver);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/builder/SearchSourceBuilderTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/builder/SearchSourceBuilderTests.java
index 070773a2a7d42..35777183ac18d 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/builder/SearchSourceBuilderTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/builder/SearchSourceBuilderTests.java
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.search.SearchExtBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.aggregations.bucket.terms.TermsAggregationBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.aggregations.metrics.MaxAggregationBuilder;
+import org.elasticsearch.search.aggregations.metrics.TopHitsAggregationBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.collapse.CollapseBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.collapse.CollapseBuilderTests;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.fetch.subphase.highlight.HighlightBuilder;
@@ -993,6 +994,40 @@ public void testSupportsParallelCollection() {
             searchSourceBuilder.aggregation(new TermsAggregationBuilder("terms"));
             assertFalse(searchSourceBuilder.supportsParallelCollection(fieldCardinality));
         }
+        {
+            SearchSourceBuilder searchSourceBuilder = newSearchSourceBuilder.get();
+            searchSourceBuilder.aggregation(new TopHitsAggregationBuilder("tophits"));
+            assertTrue(searchSourceBuilder.supportsParallelCollection(fieldCardinality));
+        }
+        {
+            SearchSourceBuilder searchSourceBuilder = newSearchSourceBuilder.get();
+            searchSourceBuilder.aggregation(new TopHitsAggregationBuilder("tophits").sort("_score"));
+            assertTrue(searchSourceBuilder.supportsParallelCollection(fieldCardinality));
+        }
+        {
+            SearchSourceBuilder searchSourceBuilder = newSearchSourceBuilder.get();
+            searchSourceBuilder.aggregation(new TopHitsAggregationBuilder("tophits").sort(SortBuilders.fieldSort("field")));
+            assertFalse(searchSourceBuilder.supportsParallelCollection(fieldCardinality));
+        }
+        {
+            SearchSourceBuilder searchSourceBuilder = newSearchSourceBuilder.get();
+            searchSourceBuilder.aggregation(new TermsAggregationBuilder("terms").subAggregation(new TopHitsAggregationBuilder("tophits")));
+            assertFalse(searchSourceBuilder.supportsParallelCollection(fieldCardinality));
+        }
+        {
+            SearchSourceBuilder searchSourceBuilder = newSearchSourceBuilder.get();
+            searchSourceBuilder.aggregation(new TopHitsAggregationBuilder("tophits").subAggregation(new TermsAggregationBuilder("terms")));
+            assertFalse(searchSourceBuilder.supportsParallelCollection(fieldCardinality));
+        }
+        {
+            SearchSourceBuilder searchSourceBuilder = newSearchSourceBuilder.get();
+            searchSourceBuilder.aggregation(
+                new TopHitsAggregationBuilder("terms").sort(
+                    SortBuilders.scriptSort(new Script("id"), ScriptSortBuilder.ScriptSortType.NUMBER)
+                )
+            );
+            assertFalse(searchSourceBuilder.supportsParallelCollection(fieldCardinality));
+        }
         {
             SearchSourceBuilder searchSourceBuilder = newSearchSourceBuilder.get();
             searchSourceBuilder.collapse(CollapseBuilderTests.randomCollapseBuilder());