diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/PublishedContentQuery.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/PublishedContentQuery.cs
index 2dbe4de4c5..72aec94e58 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/PublishedContentQuery.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/PublishedContentQuery.cs
@@ -191,46 +191,52 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web
         /// <inheritdoc />
         public IEnumerable<PublishedSearchResult> Search(string term, int skip, int take, out long totalRecords, string culture = "*", string indexName = null)
         {
-            indexName = string.IsNullOrEmpty(indexName)
-                ? Constants.UmbracoIndexes.ExternalIndexName
-                : indexName;
+            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(indexName))
+            {
+                indexName = Constants.UmbracoIndexes.ExternalIndexName;
+            }
 
             if (!_examineManager.TryGetIndex(indexName, out var index) || !(index is IUmbracoIndex umbIndex))
+            {
                 throw new InvalidOperationException($"No index found by name {indexName} or is not of type {typeof(IUmbracoIndex)}");
+            }
 
             var searcher = umbIndex.GetSearcher();
 
-            // default to max 500 results
-            var count = skip == 0 && take == 0 ? 500 : skip + take;
-
             ISearchResults results;
             if (culture == "*")
             {
-                //search everything
-
-                results = searcher.Search(term, count);
-            }
-            else if (culture.IsNullOrWhiteSpace())
-            {
-                //only search invariant
-
-                var qry = searcher.CreateQuery().Field(UmbracoContentIndex.VariesByCultureFieldName, "n"); //must not vary by culture
-                qry = qry.And().ManagedQuery(term);
-                results = qry.Execute(count);
+                // Search everything
+                results = skip == 0 && take == 0
+                    ? searcher.Search(term)
+                    : searcher.Search(term, skip + take);
             }
             else
             {
-                //search only the specified culture
+                IBooleanOperation query;
+                if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(culture))
+                {
+                    // Only search invariant
+                    query = searcher.CreateQuery()
+                        .Field(UmbracoContentIndex.VariesByCultureFieldName, "n") // Must not vary by culture
+                        .And().ManagedQuery(term);
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    // Only search the specified culture
+                    var fields = umbIndex.GetCultureAndInvariantFields(culture).ToArray(); // Get all index fields suffixed with the culture name supplied
+                    query = searcher.CreateQuery()
+                        .ManagedQuery(term, fields);
+                }
 
-                //get all index fields suffixed with the culture name supplied
-                var cultureFields = umbIndex.GetCultureAndInvariantFields(culture).ToArray();
-                var qry = searcher.CreateQuery().ManagedQuery(term, cultureFields);
-                results = qry.Execute(count);
+                results = skip == 0 && take == 0
+                    ? query.Execute()
+                    : query.Execute(skip + take);
             }
 
             totalRecords = results.TotalItemCount;
 
-            return new CultureContextualSearchResults(results.ToPublishedSearchResults(_publishedSnapshot.Content), _variationContextAccessor, culture);
+            return new CultureContextualSearchResults(results.Skip(skip).ToPublishedSearchResults(_publishedSnapshot.Content), _variationContextAccessor, culture);
         }
 
         /// <inheritdoc />
@@ -244,10 +250,11 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web
         {
             var results = skip == 0 && take == 0
                 ? query.Execute()
-                : query.Execute(maxResults: skip + take);
+                : query.Execute(skip + take);
 
             totalRecords = results.TotalItemCount;
-            return results.ToPublishedSearchResults(_publishedSnapshot.Content);
+
+            return results.Skip(skip).ToPublishedSearchResults(_publishedSnapshot.Content);
         }
 
         /// <summary>