diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/ml/search/SparseVectorQueryBuilder.java b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/ml/search/SparseVectorQueryBuilder.java
index 36897775861c8..35cba890e5e0c 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/ml/search/SparseVectorQueryBuilder.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/ml/search/SparseVectorQueryBuilder.java
@@ -99,25 +99,24 @@ public SparseVectorQueryBuilder(
                     + QUERY_VECTOR_FIELD.getPreferredName()
                     + "] or ["
                     + INFERENCE_ID_FIELD.getPreferredName()
-                    + "]"
+                    + "] for "
+                    + ALLOWED_FIELD_TYPE
+                    + " fields"
             );
         }
 
+        // Preserve BWC error messaging
         if ((queryVectors == null) == (query == null)) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
-                "[" + NAME + "] requires one of [" + QUERY_VECTOR_FIELD.getPreferredName() + "] or [" + QUERY_FIELD.getPreferredName() + "]"
-            );
-        }
-
-        if (inferenceId != null && query == null) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                 "["
                     + NAME
-                    + "] requires ["
-                    + QUERY_FIELD.getPreferredName()
-                    + "] when ["
+                    + "] requires one of ["
+                    + QUERY_VECTOR_FIELD.getPreferredName()
+                    + "] or ["
                     + INFERENCE_ID_FIELD.getPreferredName()
-                    + "] is specified"
+                    + "] for "
+                    + ALLOWED_FIELD_TYPE
+                    + " fields"
             );
         }
     }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/SemanticMatchQueryRewriteInterceptorTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/SemanticMatchQueryRewriteInterceptorTests.java
index f705a5d809b94..47705c14d5941 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/SemanticMatchQueryRewriteInterceptorTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/SemanticMatchQueryRewriteInterceptorTests.java
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.action.OriginalIndices;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.ResolvedIndices;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.support.IndicesOptions;
-import org.elasticsearch.client.internal.Client;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetadata;
 import org.elasticsearch.cluster.metadata.InferenceFieldMetadata;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/SemanticSparseVectorQueryRewriteInterceptorTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/SemanticSparseVectorQueryRewriteInterceptorTests.java
index 42f9041710bfa..1adad1df7b29b 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/SemanticSparseVectorQueryRewriteInterceptorTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/SemanticSparseVectorQueryRewriteInterceptorTests.java
@@ -22,8 +22,6 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.threadpool.TestThreadPool;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.ml.search.SparseVectorQueryBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.inference.mapper.SemanticTextField;
-import org.elasticsearch.xpack.inference.queries.SemanticMatchQueryRewriteInterceptor;
-import org.elasticsearch.xpack.inference.queries.SemanticQueryBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.inference.queries.SemanticSparseVectorQueryRewriteInterceptor;
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;