diff --git a/milli/src/search/criteria/mod.rs b/milli/src/search/criteria/mod.rs
index 4613acb4f..ae9e0c218 100644
--- a/milli/src/search/criteria/mod.rs
+++ b/milli/src/search/criteria/mod.rs
@@ -326,43 +326,7 @@ pub fn resolve_query_tree<'t>(
                 }
                 Ok(candidates)
             }
-            Phrase(words) => {
-                let mut candidates = RoaringBitmap::new();
-                let mut first_iter = true;
-                let winsize = words.len().min(7);
-
-                for win in words.windows(winsize) {
-                    // Get all the documents with the matching distance for each word pairs.
-                    let mut bitmaps = Vec::with_capacity(winsize.pow(2));
-                    for (offset, s1) in win.iter().enumerate() {
-                        for (dist, s2) in win.iter().skip(offset + 1).enumerate() {
-                            match ctx.word_pair_proximity_docids(s1, s2, dist as u8 + 1)? {
-                                Some(m) => bitmaps.push(m),
-                                // If there are no document for this distance, there will be no
-                                // results for the phrase query.
-                                None => return Ok(RoaringBitmap::new()),
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }
-
-                    // We sort the bitmaps so that we perform the small intersections first, which is faster.
-                    bitmaps.sort_unstable_by(|a, b| a.len().cmp(&b.len()));
-
-                    for bitmap in bitmaps {
-                        if first_iter {
-                            candidates = bitmap;
-                            first_iter = false;
-                        } else {
-                            candidates &= bitmap;
-                        }
-                        // There will be no match, return early
-                        if candidates.is_empty() {
-                            break;
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
-                Ok(candidates)
-            }
+            Phrase(words) => resolve_phrase(ctx, &words),
             Or(_, ops) => {
                 let mut candidates = RoaringBitmap::new();
                 for op in ops {
@@ -378,6 +342,44 @@ pub fn resolve_query_tree<'t>(
     resolve_operation(ctx, query_tree, wdcache)
 }
 
+pub fn resolve_phrase<'t>(ctx: &'t dyn Context, phrase: &[String]) -> Result<RoaringBitmap> {
+    let mut candidates = RoaringBitmap::new();
+    let mut first_iter = true;
+    let winsize = phrase.len().min(7);
+
+    for win in phrase.windows(winsize) {
+        // Get all the documents with the matching distance for each word pairs.
+        let mut bitmaps = Vec::with_capacity(winsize.pow(2));
+        for (offset, s1) in win.iter().enumerate() {
+            for (dist, s2) in win.iter().skip(offset + 1).enumerate() {
+                match ctx.word_pair_proximity_docids(s1, s2, dist as u8 + 1)? {
+                    Some(m) => bitmaps.push(m),
+                    // If there are no document for this distance, there will be no
+                    // results for the phrase query.
+                    None => return Ok(RoaringBitmap::new()),
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        // We sort the bitmaps so that we perform the small intersections first, which is faster.
+        bitmaps.sort_unstable_by(|a, b| a.len().cmp(&b.len()));
+
+        for bitmap in bitmaps {
+            if first_iter {
+                candidates = bitmap;
+                first_iter = false;
+            } else {
+                candidates &= bitmap;
+            }
+            // There will be no match, return early
+            if candidates.is_empty() {
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    Ok(candidates)
+}
+
 fn all_word_pair_proximity_docids<T: AsRef<str>, U: AsRef<str>>(
     ctx: &dyn Context,
     left_words: &[(T, u8)],
diff --git a/milli/src/search/criteria/proximity.rs b/milli/src/search/criteria/proximity.rs
index 30919585b..e942a7bef 100644
--- a/milli/src/search/criteria/proximity.rs
+++ b/milli/src/search/criteria/proximity.rs
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ use log::debug;
 use roaring::RoaringBitmap;
 
 use super::{
-    query_docids, query_pair_proximity_docids, resolve_query_tree, Context, Criterion,
-    CriterionParameters, CriterionResult,
+    query_docids, query_pair_proximity_docids, resolve_phrase, resolve_query_tree, Context,
+    Criterion, CriterionParameters, CriterionResult,
 };
 use crate::search::query_tree::{maximum_proximity, Operation, Query, QueryKind};
 use crate::search::{build_dfa, WordDerivationsCache};
@@ -192,42 +192,9 @@ fn resolve_candidates<'t>(
                     let most_right = words
                         .last()
                         .map(|w| Query { prefix: false, kind: QueryKind::exact(w.clone()) });
-                    let mut candidates = RoaringBitmap::new();
-                    let mut first_iter = true;
-                    let winsize = words.len().min(7);
 
-                    for win in words.windows(winsize) {
-                        // Get all the documents with the matching distance for each word pairs.
-                        let mut bitmaps = Vec::with_capacity(winsize.pow(2));
-                        for (offset, s1) in win.iter().enumerate() {
-                            for (dist, s2) in win.iter().skip(offset + 1).enumerate() {
-                                match ctx.word_pair_proximity_docids(s1, s2, dist as u8 + 1)? {
-                                    Some(m) => bitmaps.push(m),
-                                    // If there are no document for this distance, there will be no
-                                    // results for the phrase query.
-                                    None => return Ok(Default::default()),
-                                }
-                            }
-                        }
-
-                        // We sort the bitmaps so that we perform the small intersections first, which is faster.
-                        bitmaps.sort_unstable_by(|a, b| a.len().cmp(&b.len()));
-
-                        for bitmap in bitmaps {
-                            if first_iter {
-                                candidates = bitmap;
-                                first_iter = false;
-                            } else {
-                                candidates &= bitmap;
-                            }
-                            // There will be no match, return early
-                            if candidates.is_empty() {
-                                break;
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }
                     match (most_left, most_right) {
-                        (Some(l), Some(r)) => vec![(l, r, candidates)],
+                        (Some(l), Some(r)) => vec![(l, r, resolve_phrase(ctx, &words)?)],
                         _otherwise => Default::default(),
                     }
                 } else {