diff --git a/milli/src/search/new/query_term/parse_query.rs b/milli/src/search/new/query_term/parse_query.rs
index bf90748e4..0120772be 100644
--- a/milli/src/search/new/query_term/parse_query.rs
+++ b/milli/src/search/new/query_term/parse_query.rs
@@ -77,13 +77,9 @@ pub fn located_query_terms_from_tokens(
                 }
             }
             TokenKind::Separator(separator_kind) => {
-                match separator_kind {
-                    SeparatorKind::Hard => {
-                        position += 1;
-                    }
-                    SeparatorKind::Soft => {
-                        position += 0;
-                    }
+                // add penalty for hard separators
+                if let SeparatorKind::Hard = separator_kind {
+                    position = position.wrapping_add(1);
                 }
 
                 phrase = 'phrase: {