diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/SearchPhaseController.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/SearchPhaseController.java
index 28a7193646001..5713dc4764bc2 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/SearchPhaseController.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/search/SearchPhaseController.java
@@ -761,7 +761,7 @@ static final class TopDocsStats {
         TopDocsStats(boolean trackTotalHits) {
             this.trackTotalHits = trackTotalHits;
             this.totalHits = 0;
-            this.totalHitsRelation = trackTotalHits ? Relation.EQUAL_TO : Relation.GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL_TO;
+            this.totalHitsRelation = Relation.EQUAL_TO;
         }
 
         TotalHits getTotalHits() {
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/lucene/Lucene.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/lucene/Lucene.java
index 38ab9a6d7d48c..f515db43ab9a5 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/lucene/Lucene.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/lucene/Lucene.java
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ public static boolean exists(IndexSearcher searcher, Query query) throws IOExcep
         return false;
     }
 
-    private static TotalHits readTotalHits(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
+    public static TotalHits readTotalHits(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
         long totalHits = in.readVLong();
         TotalHits.Relation totalHitsRelation = TotalHits.Relation.EQUAL_TO;
         if (in.getVersion().onOrAfter(org.elasticsearch.Version.V_7_0_0)) {
@@ -418,7 +418,7 @@ public static ScoreDoc readScoreDoc(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
 
     private static final Class<?> GEO_DISTANCE_SORT_TYPE_CLASS = LatLonDocValuesField.newDistanceSort("some_geo_field", 0, 0).getClass();
 
-    private static void writeTotalHits(StreamOutput out, TotalHits totalHits) throws IOException {
+    public static void writeTotalHits(StreamOutput out, TotalHits totalHits) throws IOException {
         out.writeVLong(totalHits.value);
         if (out.getVersion().onOrAfter(org.elasticsearch.Version.V_7_0_0)) {
             out.writeEnum(totalHits.relation);
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchHits.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchHits.java
index 01f4e9f880e54..397091aa6f6a9 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchHits.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/SearchHits.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.StreamOutput;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.Streamable;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.Writeable;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.lucene.Lucene;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.ToXContentFragment;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentParser;
@@ -276,14 +277,7 @@ private static class Total implements Writeable, ToXContentFragment {
         final TotalHits in;
 
         Total(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
-            final long value = in.readVLong();
-            final Relation relation;
-            if (in.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_7_0_0)) {
-                relation = in.readEnum(Relation.class);
-            } else {
-                relation = Relation.EQUAL_TO;
-            }
-            this.in = new TotalHits(value, relation);
+            this.in = Lucene.readTotalHits(in);
         }
 
         Total(TotalHits in) {
@@ -306,12 +300,7 @@ public int hashCode() {
 
         @Override
         public void writeTo(StreamOutput out) throws IOException {
-            out.writeVLong(in.value);
-            if (out.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_7_0_0)) {
-                out.writeEnum(in.relation);
-            } else {
-                assert in.relation == Relation.EQUAL_TO;
-            }
+            Lucene.writeTotalHits(out, in);
         }
 
         @Override
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/query/TopDocsCollectorContext.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/query/TopDocsCollectorContext.java
index fcf70a4f98c05..3241c888b23e4 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/query/TopDocsCollectorContext.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/query/TopDocsCollectorContext.java
@@ -107,12 +107,11 @@ private EmptyTopDocsCollectorContext(IndexReader reader, Query query,
                     this.hitCountSupplier = () -> new TotalHits(hitCountCollector.getTotalHits(), TotalHits.Relation.EQUAL_TO);
                 } else {
                     this.collector = new EarlyTerminatingCollector(hitCountCollector, 0, false);
-                    this.hitCountSupplier = () -> new TotalHits(hitCount, TotalHits.Relation.EQUAL_TO);
+                    this.hitCountSupplier = () -> new TotalHits(hitCount, TotalHits.Relation.GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL_TO);
                 }
             } else {
                 this.collector = new EarlyTerminatingCollector(new TotalHitCountCollector(), 0, false);
-                // for bwc hit count is set to 0, it will be converted to -1 by the coordinating node
-                this.hitCountSupplier = () -> new TotalHits(0, TotalHits.Relation.GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL_TO);
+                this.hitCountSupplier = () -> new TotalHits(0, TotalHits.Relation.EQUAL_TO);
             }
         }
 
@@ -222,8 +221,7 @@ private SimpleTopDocsCollectorContext(IndexReader reader,
             } else {
                 topDocsCollector = createCollector(sortAndFormats, numHits, searchAfter, 1); // don't compute hit counts via the collector
                 topDocsSupplier = new CachedSupplier<>(topDocsCollector::topDocs);
-                if (hitCount == -1) {
-                    assert trackTotalHits == false;
+                if (trackTotalHits == false) {
                     totalHitsSupplier = () -> new TotalHits(0, TotalHits.Relation.GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL_TO);
                 } else {
                     totalHitsSupplier = () -> new TotalHits(hitCount, TotalHits.Relation.EQUAL_TO);