diff --git a/src/index.cpp b/src/index.cpp
index a8008a2d..7192faba 100644
--- a/src/index.cpp
+++ b/src/index.cpp
@@ -6492,13 +6492,17 @@ void Index::batch_embed_fields(std::vector<index_record*>& records,
                 continue;
             }
             std::string text = indexing_prefix;
-            auto embed_from = field.embed[fields::from].get<std::vector<std::string>>();
+            const auto& embed_from = field.embed[fields::from].get<std::vector<std::string>>();
             for(const auto& field_name : embed_from) {
                 auto field_it = search_schema.find(field_name);
+                auto doc_field_it = document->find(field_name);
+                if(doc_field_it == document->end()) {
+                        continue;
+                }
                 if(field_it.value().type == field_types::STRING) {
-                    text += (*document)[field_name].get<std::string>() + " ";
+                    text += doc_field_it->get<std::string>() + " ";
                 } else if(field_it.value().type == field_types::STRING_ARRAY) {
-                    for(const auto& val : (*document)[field_name]) {
+                    for(const auto& val : *(doc_field_it)) {
                         text += val.get<std::string>() + " ";
                     }
                 }
@@ -6511,7 +6515,7 @@ void Index::batch_embed_fields(std::vector<index_record*>& records,
         if(texts_to_embed.empty()) {
             continue;
         }
-        
+
         TextEmbedderManager& embedder_manager = TextEmbedderManager::get_instance();
         auto embedder_op = embedder_manager.get_text_embedder(field.embed[fields::model_config]);
 
diff --git a/src/validator.cpp b/src/validator.cpp
index b8516130..5fe9bab3 100644
--- a/src/validator.cpp
+++ b/src/validator.cpp
@@ -669,7 +669,9 @@ Option<bool> validator_t::validate_embed_fields(const nlohmann::json& document,
                                           const tsl::htrie_map<char, field> & search_schema,
                                           const bool& error_if_field_not_found) {
     for(const auto& field : embedding_fields) {
-        auto embed_from = field.embed[fields::from].get<std::vector<std::string>>();
+        const auto& embed_from = field.embed[fields::from].get<std::vector<std::string>>();
+        // flag to check if all fields to embed from are optional and null
+        bool all_optional_and_null = true;
         for(const auto& field_name : embed_from) {
             auto schema_field_it = search_schema.find(field_name);
             auto doc_field_it = document.find(field_name);
@@ -677,12 +679,13 @@ Option<bool> validator_t::validate_embed_fields(const nlohmann::json& document,
                 return Option<bool>(400, "Field `" + field.name + "` has invalid fields to create embeddings from.");
             }
             if(doc_field_it == document.end()) {
-                if(error_if_field_not_found) {
+                if(error_if_field_not_found && !schema_field_it->optional) {
                     return Option<bool>(400, "Field `" + field_name + "` is needed to create embedding.");
                 } else {
                     continue;
                 }
             }
+            all_optional_and_null = false;
             if((schema_field_it.value().type == field_types::STRING && !doc_field_it.value().is_string()) || 
                 (schema_field_it.value().type == field_types::STRING_ARRAY && !doc_field_it.value().is_array())) {
                 return Option<bool>(400, "Field `" + field_name + "` has malformed data.");
@@ -695,6 +698,9 @@ Option<bool> validator_t::validate_embed_fields(const nlohmann::json& document,
                 }
             }
         }
+        if(all_optional_and_null && !field.optional) {
+            return Option<bool>(400, "No valid fields found to create embedding for `" + field.name + "`, please provide at least one valid field or make the embedding field optional.");
+        }
     }
 
     return Option<bool>(true);
diff --git a/test/collection_test.cpp b/test/collection_test.cpp
index bb1faa88..8211f962 100644
--- a/test/collection_test.cpp
+++ b/test/collection_test.cpp
@@ -4870,8 +4870,7 @@ TEST_F(CollectionTest, MissingFieldForEmbedding) {
     doc["names"].push_back("butterball");
 
     auto add_op = coll->add(doc.dump());
-    ASSERT_FALSE(add_op.ok());
-    ASSERT_EQ("Field `category` is needed to create embedding.", add_op.error());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(add_op.ok());
 }
 
 TEST_F(CollectionTest, WrongTypeInEmbedFrom) {
diff --git a/test/collection_vector_search_test.cpp b/test/collection_vector_search_test.cpp
index b726a06a..7f1e7eef 100644
--- a/test/collection_vector_search_test.cpp
+++ b/test/collection_vector_search_test.cpp
@@ -987,4 +987,52 @@ TEST_F(CollectionVectorTest, HybridSearchSortByGeopoint) {
     ASSERT_EQ("butter", search_res["hits"][0]["document"]["name"].get<std::string>());
     ASSERT_EQ("butterball", search_res["hits"][1]["document"]["name"].get<std::string>());
     ASSERT_EQ("butterfly", search_res["hits"][2]["document"]["name"].get<std::string>());
+}
+
+
+TEST_F(CollectionVectorTest, EmbedFromOptionalNullField) {
+    nlohmann::json schema = R"({
+                "name": "objects",
+                "fields": [
+                {"name": "text", "type": "string", "optional": true},
+                {"name": "embedding", "type":"float[]", "embed":{"from": ["text"], "model_config": {"model_name": "ts/e5-small"}}}
+                ]
+            })"_json;
+
+    TextEmbedderManager::set_model_dir("/tmp/typesense_test/models");
+
+    auto op = collectionManager.create_collection(schema);
+
+    ASSERT_TRUE(op.ok());
+    auto coll = op.get();
+
+    nlohmann::json doc = R"({
+    })"_json;
+
+    auto add_op = coll->add(doc.dump());
+
+    ASSERT_FALSE(add_op.ok());
+    ASSERT_EQ("No valid fields found to create embedding for `embedding`, please provide at least one valid field or make the embedding field optional.", add_op.error());
+
+    doc["text"] = "butter";
+    add_op = coll->add(doc.dump());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(add_op.ok());
+    // drop the embedding field and reindex
+
+    nlohmann::json alter_schema = R"({
+        "fields": [
+        {"name": "embedding", "drop": true},
+        {"name": "embedding", "type":"float[]", "embed":{"from": ["text"], "model_config": {"model_name": "ts/e5-small"}}, "optional": true}
+        ]
+    })"_json;
+
+    auto update_op = coll->alter(alter_schema);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(update_op.ok());
+
+
+    doc = R"({
+    })"_json;
+    add_op = coll->add(doc.dump());
+
+    ASSERT_TRUE(add_op.ok());
 }
\ No newline at end of file