diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index d96d54ede..bde04bc52 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 		<!-- version of the RestHighLevelClient	-->
 		<elasticsearch-rhlc>7.17.9</elasticsearch-rhlc>
 		<!-- version of the new ElasticsearchClient	-->
-		<elasticsearch-java>8.6.2</elasticsearch-java>
+		<elasticsearch-java>8.7.0</elasticsearch-java>
 
 		<log4j>2.18.0</log4j>
 		<netty>4.1.65.Final</netty>
diff --git a/src/main/asciidoc/preface.adoc b/src/main/asciidoc/preface.adoc
index b868e7729..53c9b5010 100644
--- a/src/main/asciidoc/preface.adoc
+++ b/src/main/asciidoc/preface.adoc
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ built and tested.
 [cols="^,^,^,^,^",options="header"]
 |===
 | Spring Data Release Train | Spring Data Elasticsearch | Elasticsearch | Spring Framework | Spring Boot
-| 2022.1 | 5.1.x | 8.6.2 | 6.0.x | 3.0.x
+| 2022.1 | 5.1.x | 8.7.0 | 6.0.x | 3.0.x
 | 2022.0 (Turing) | 5.0.x | 8.5.3 | 6.0.x | 3.0.x
 | 2021.2 (Raj) | 4.4.x | 7.17.3 | 5.3.x | 2.7.x
 | 2021.1 (Q) | 4.3.x | 7.15.2 | 5.3.x | 2.6.x
diff --git a/src/main/asciidoc/reference/elasticsearch-new.adoc b/src/main/asciidoc/reference/elasticsearch-new.adoc
index c1959309e..7d4decbc8 100644
--- a/src/main/asciidoc/reference/elasticsearch-new.adoc
+++ b/src/main/asciidoc/reference/elasticsearch-new.adoc
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 [[new-features.5-1-0]]
 == New in Spring Data Elasticsearch 5.1
 
-* Upgrade to Elasticsearch 8.6.2
+* Upgrade to Elasticsearch 8.7.0
 
 [[new-features.5-0-0]]
 == New in Spring Data Elasticsearch 5.0
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/elc/RequestConverter.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/elc/RequestConverter.java
index 4fb7ba682..3910636aa 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/elc/RequestConverter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/elasticsearch/client/elc/RequestConverter.java
@@ -16,21 +16,10 @@
 package org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.client.elc;
 
 import static org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.client.elc.TypeUtils.*;
-import static org.springframework.util.CollectionUtils.*;
-
-import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.Conflicts;
-import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.FieldValue;
-import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.InlineScript;
-import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.OpType;
-import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.SortOptions;
-import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.SortOrder;
-import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.VersionType;
-import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.WaitForActiveShardOptions;
-import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.mapping.FieldType;
-import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.mapping.Property;
-import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.mapping.RuntimeField;
-import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.mapping.RuntimeFieldType;
-import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.mapping.TypeMapping;
+import static org.springframework.util.CollectionUtils.isEmpty;
+
+import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.*;
+import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.mapping.*;
 import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.query_dsl.FieldAndFormat;
 import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch._types.query_dsl.Like;
 import co.elastic.clients.elasticsearch.cluster.HealthRequest;
@@ -58,13 +47,7 @@
 import java.io.StringReader;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.time.Duration;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.Collections;
-import java.util.HashMap;
-import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.*;
 import java.util.function.Function;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
@@ -74,9 +57,7 @@
 import org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.ScriptType;
 import org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.convert.ElasticsearchConverter;
 import org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.document.Document;
-import org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.index.AliasAction;
-import org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.index.AliasActionParameters;
-import org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.index.AliasActions;
+import org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.index.*;
 import org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.index.DeleteTemplateRequest;
 import org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.index.ExistsTemplateRequest;
 import org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.index.GetTemplateRequest;
@@ -1417,7 +1398,11 @@ private void prepareNativeSearch(NativeQuery query, SearchRequest.Builder builde
 				.suggest(query.getSuggester()) //
 				.collapse(query.getFieldCollapse()) //
 				.sort(query.getSortOptions()) //
-				.knn(query.getKnnQuery());
+		;
+
+		if (query.getKnnQuery() != null) {
+			builder.knn(query.getKnnQuery());
+		}
 
 		if (!isEmpty(query.getAggregations())) {
 			builder.aggregations(query.getAggregations());
diff --git a/src/test/resources/testcontainers-elasticsearch.properties b/src/test/resources/testcontainers-elasticsearch.properties
index 3f2e873ea..1580194bc 100644
--- a/src/test/resources/testcontainers-elasticsearch.properties
+++ b/src/test/resources/testcontainers-elasticsearch.properties
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 #
 #
 sde.testcontainers.image-name=docker.elastic.co/elasticsearch/elasticsearch
-sde.testcontainers.image-version=8.6.2
+sde.testcontainers.image-version=8.7.0
 #
 #
 # needed as we do a DELETE /* at the end of the tests, will be required from 8.0 on, produces a warning since 7.13