diff --git a/.changeset/shaggy-crews-carry.md b/.changeset/shaggy-crews-carry.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..db9aa5225b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/shaggy-crews-carry.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-search-backend-module-elasticsearch': patch
+---
+
+fix ElasticSearch throwing error when index is missing
diff --git a/plugins/search-backend-module-elasticsearch/src/engines/ElasticSearchClientWrapper.test.ts b/plugins/search-backend-module-elasticsearch/src/engines/ElasticSearchClientWrapper.test.ts
index 2677eb1420..7355daf3b9 100644
--- a/plugins/search-backend-module-elasticsearch/src/engines/ElasticSearchClientWrapper.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/search-backend-module-elasticsearch/src/engines/ElasticSearchClientWrapper.test.ts
@@ -119,7 +119,12 @@ describe('ElasticSearchClientWrapper', () => {
     it('search', async () => {
       const wrapper = ElasticSearchClientWrapper.fromClientOptions(esOptions);
 
-      const searchInput = { index: 'xyz', body: { eg: 'etc' } };
+      const searchInput = {
+        index: 'xyz',
+        body: { eg: 'etc' },
+        ignore_unavailable: true,
+        allow_no_indices: true,
+      };
       const result = (await wrapper.search(searchInput)) as any;
 
       // Should call the ElasticSearch client's search with expected input.
@@ -241,7 +246,12 @@ describe('ElasticSearchClientWrapper', () => {
     it('search', async () => {
       const wrapper = ElasticSearchClientWrapper.fromClientOptions(osOptions);
 
-      const searchInput = { index: 'xyz', body: { eg: 'etc' } };
+      const searchInput = {
+        index: 'xyz',
+        body: { eg: 'etc' },
+        ignore_unavailable: true,
+        allow_no_indices: true,
+      };
       const result = (await wrapper.search(searchInput)) as any;
 
       // Should call the OpenSearch client's search with expected input.
@@ -350,7 +360,12 @@ describe('ElasticSearchClientWrapper', () => {
       const wrapper = ElasticSearchClientWrapper.fromClientOptions(osOptions);
       expect(OpenSearchClient).toHaveBeenCalledWith(osOptions);
 
-      const searchInput = { index: 'xyz', body: { eg: 'etc' } };
+      const searchInput = {
+        index: 'xyz',
+        body: { eg: 'etc' },
+        ignore_unavailable: true,
+        allow_no_indices: true,
+      };
       const result = (await wrapper.search(searchInput)) as any;
       expect(result.client).toBe('os');
       expect(result.args).toStrictEqual(searchInput);
diff --git a/plugins/search-backend-module-elasticsearch/src/engines/ElasticSearchClientWrapper.ts b/plugins/search-backend-module-elasticsearch/src/engines/ElasticSearchClientWrapper.ts
index 395f861223..a7aca3d03f 100644
--- a/plugins/search-backend-module-elasticsearch/src/engines/ElasticSearchClientWrapper.ts
+++ b/plugins/search-backend-module-elasticsearch/src/engines/ElasticSearchClientWrapper.ts
@@ -91,12 +91,23 @@ export class ElasticSearchClientWrapper {
   }
 
   search(options: { index: string | string[]; body: Object }) {
+    const searchOptions = {
+      ignore_unavailable: true,
+      allow_no_indices: true,
+    };
+
     if (this.openSearchClient) {
-      return this.openSearchClient.search(options);
+      return this.openSearchClient.search({
+        ...options,
+        ...searchOptions,
+      });
     }
 
     if (this.elasticSearchClient) {
-      return this.elasticSearchClient.search(options);
+      return this.elasticSearchClient.search({
+        ...options,
+        ...searchOptions,
+      });
     }
 
     throw new Error('No client defined');