diff --git a/hnswlib/hnswalg.h b/hnswlib/hnswalg.h
index 90735a14..77204700 100644
--- a/hnswlib/hnswalg.h
+++ b/hnswlib/hnswalg.h
@@ -312,17 +312,19 @@ class HierarchicalNSW : public AlgorithmInterface<dist_t> {
 
     template <bool has_deletions, bool collect_metrics = false>
     std::priority_queue<std::pair<dist_t, tableint>, std::vector<std::pair<dist_t, tableint>>, CompareByFirst>
-    searchBaseLayerST(tableint ep_id, const void *data_point, size_t ef, BaseFilterFunctor* isIdAllowed = nullptr) const {
+    searchBaseLayerST(tableint ep_id, const void *data_point, size_t ef, BaseFilterFunctor* isIdAllowed = nullptr, size_t k = 0) const {
         VisitedList *vl = visited_list_pool_->getFreeVisitedList();
         vl_type *visited_array = vl->mass;
         vl_type visited_array_tag = vl->curV;
+        const bool use_filter = isIdAllowed && k > 0;
 
         std::priority_queue<std::pair<dist_t, tableint>, std::vector<std::pair<dist_t, tableint>>, CompareByFirst> top_candidates;
         std::priority_queue<std::pair<dist_t, tableint>, std::vector<std::pair<dist_t, tableint>>, CompareByFirst> candidate_set;
 
         dist_t lowerBound;
-        if ((!has_deletions || !isMarkedDeleted(ep_id)) && ((!isIdAllowed) || (*isIdAllowed)(getExternalLabel(ep_id)))) {
-            dist_t dist = fstdistfunc_(data_point, getDataByInternalId(ep_id), (labeltype)-1, getExternalLabel(ep_id), dist_func_param_);
+        labeltype ep_label = getExternalLabel(ep_id);
+        if ((!has_deletions || !isMarkedDeleted(ep_id)) && ((!isIdAllowed) || (*isIdAllowed)(ep_label))) {
+            dist_t dist = fstdistfunc_(data_point, getDataByInternalId(ep_id), (labeltype)-1, ep_label, dist_func_param_);
             lowerBound = dist;
             top_candidates.emplace(dist, ep_id);
             candidate_set.emplace(-dist, ep_id);
@@ -336,8 +338,19 @@ class HierarchicalNSW : public AlgorithmInterface<dist_t> {
         while (!candidate_set.empty()) {
             std::pair<dist_t, tableint> current_node_pair = candidate_set.top();
 
-            if ((-current_node_pair.first) > lowerBound &&
-                (top_candidates.size() == ef || (!isIdAllowed && !has_deletions))) {
+            bool should_break = false;
+            if (use_filter) {
+                // Continue until we have k filtered candidates
+                if (top_candidates.size() >= k && (-current_node_pair.first) > lowerBound) {
+                    should_break = true;
+                }
+            } else {
+                if ((-current_node_pair.first) > lowerBound &&
+                    (top_candidates.size() == ef || (!isIdAllowed && !has_deletions))) {
+                    should_break = true;
+                }
+            }
+            if (should_break) {
                 break;
             }
             candidate_set.pop();
@@ -370,9 +383,12 @@ class HierarchicalNSW : public AlgorithmInterface<dist_t> {
                     visited_array[candidate_id] = visited_array_tag;
 
                     char *currObj1 = (getDataByInternalId(candidate_id));
-                    dist_t dist = fstdistfunc_(data_point, currObj1, (labeltype)-1, getExternalLabel(candidate_id), dist_func_param_);
+                    labeltype cand_label = getExternalLabel(candidate_id);
+                    dist_t dist = fstdistfunc_(data_point, currObj1, (labeltype)-1, cand_label, dist_func_param_);
 
-                    if (top_candidates.size() < ef || lowerBound > dist) {
+                    bool should_explore = (use_filter && top_candidates.size() < k) ||
+                                          (top_candidates.size() < ef || lowerBound > dist);
+                    if (should_explore) {
                         candidate_set.emplace(-dist, candidate_id);
 #ifdef USE_SSE
                         _mm_prefetch(data_level0_memory_ + candidate_set.top().second * size_data_per_element_ +
@@ -380,8 +396,10 @@ class HierarchicalNSW : public AlgorithmInterface<dist_t> {
                                         _MM_HINT_T0);  ////////////////////////
 #endif
 
-                        if ((!has_deletions || !isMarkedDeleted(candidate_id)) && ((!isIdAllowed) || (*isIdAllowed)(getExternalLabel(candidate_id))))
+                        bool is_filtered = (!has_deletions || !isMarkedDeleted(candidate_id)) && ((!isIdAllowed) || (*isIdAllowed)(cand_label));
+                        if (is_filtered) {
                             top_candidates.emplace(dist, candidate_id);
+                        }
 
                         if (top_candidates.size() > ef)
                             top_candidates.pop();
@@ -1367,13 +1385,14 @@ class HierarchicalNSW : public AlgorithmInterface<dist_t> {
         size_t searchEf = std::max(ef_, k);
         if ( ef )
             searchEf = std::max(searchEf, *ef);
+
         std::priority_queue<std::pair<dist_t, tableint>, std::vector<std::pair<dist_t, tableint>>, CompareByFirst> top_candidates;
         if (num_deleted_) {
             top_candidates = searchBaseLayerST<true, true>(
-                    currObj, query_data, searchEf, isIdAllowed);
+                    currObj, query_data, searchEf, isIdAllowed, isIdAllowed ? k : 0);
         } else {
             top_candidates = searchBaseLayerST<false, true>(
-                    currObj, query_data, searchEf, isIdAllowed);
+                    currObj, query_data, searchEf, isIdAllowed, isIdAllowed ? k : 0);
         }
 
         while (top_candidates.size() > k) {