diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/redis/vl/query/HybridQuery.java b/core/src/main/java/com/redis/vl/query/HybridQuery.java
index 7d61b76..94f4a58 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/redis/vl/query/HybridQuery.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/redis/vl/query/HybridQuery.java
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ public enum CombinationMethod {
   }
 
   private static final String DEFAULT_VECTOR_PARAM = "vector";
+  private static final int DEFAULT_KNN_EF_RUNTIME = 0;
 
   private final String text;
   private final String textFieldName;
@@ -293,10 +294,12 @@ public FTHybridParams buildFTHybridParams() {
     // Build COMBINE clause
     Combiner combiner = buildCombiner();
 
-    // Build POST-PROCESSING clause
+    // Build POST-PROCESSING clause — LOAD fields so document content is returned in the response
     FTHybridPostProcessingParams.Builder postBuilder = FTHybridPostProcessingParams.builder();
     if (!returnFields.isEmpty()) {
       postBuilder.load(returnFields.toArray(new String[0]));
+    } else {
+      postBuilder.loadAll();
     }
     postBuilder.limit(Limit.of(0, numResults));
 
@@ -376,8 +379,13 @@ private FTHybridVectorParams.VectorMethod buildVectorMethod() {
           FTHybridVectorParams.Range.of(rangeRadius).epsilon(rangeEpsilon);
       return range;
     }
-    // Default: KNN
-    return FTHybridVectorParams.Knn.of(numResults).efRuntime(knnEfRuntime);
+    // Default: KNN — only set EF_RUNTIME if explicitly configured (non-default value)
+    // EF_RUNTIME is only valid for HNSW indexes and causes errors with FLAT indexes
+    FTHybridVectorParams.Knn knn = FTHybridVectorParams.Knn.of(numResults);
+    if (knnEfRuntime != DEFAULT_KNN_EF_RUNTIME) {
+      knn = knn.efRuntime(knnEfRuntime);
+    }
+    return knn;
   }
 
   private Combiner buildCombiner() {
@@ -419,7 +427,7 @@ public static class HybridQueryBuilder {
     private String textScorer = "BM25STD";
     private String yieldTextScoreAs;
     private VectorSearchMethod vectorSearchMethod = VectorSearchMethod.KNN;
-    private int knnEfRuntime = 10;
+    private int knnEfRuntime = DEFAULT_KNN_EF_RUNTIME;
     private Float rangeRadius;
     private float rangeEpsilon = 0.01f;
     private String yieldVsimScoreAs;
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/com/redis/vl/query/HybridQueryTest.java b/core/src/test/java/com/redis/vl/query/HybridQueryTest.java
index 5813383..747ab07 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/com/redis/vl/query/HybridQueryTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/com/redis/vl/query/HybridQueryTest.java
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ void testBuilderDefaults() {
     assertThat(query.getVectorSearchMethod()).isEqualTo(VectorSearchMethod.KNN);
     assertThat(query.getCombinationMethod()).isEqualTo(CombinationMethod.RRF);
     assertThat(query.getDtype()).isEqualTo("float32");
-    assertThat(query.getKnnEfRuntime()).isEqualTo(10);
+    assertThat(query.getKnnEfRuntime()).isEqualTo(0);
     assertThat(query.getRangeEpsilon()).isEqualTo(0.01f);
     assertThat(query.getVectorParamName()).isEqualTo("vector");
     assertThat(query.getYieldTextScoreAs()).isNull();
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index 55bd7ad..38244a4 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -1 +1 @@
-version = 0.13.0
+version = 0.13.1