diff --git a/search_r1/search/retrieval_server.py b/search_r1/search/retrieval_server.py
index f3969898..8c93f86a 100644
--- a/search_r1/search/retrieval_server.py
+++ b/search_r1/search/retrieval_server.py
@@ -337,11 +337,11 @@ def retrieve_endpoint(request: QueryRequest):
     if not request.topk:
         request.topk = config.retrieval_topk  # fallback to default
 
-    # Perform batch retrieval
+    # Perform batch retrieval (always fetch scores internally, filter at response stage)
     results, scores = retriever.batch_search(
         query_list=request.queries,
         num=request.topk,
-        return_score=request.return_scores
+        return_score=True
     )
     
     # Format response