diff --git a/python/python/lancedb/query.py b/python/python/lancedb/query.py
index b210c6497..d9755afa1 100644
--- a/python/python/lancedb/query.py
+++ b/python/python/lancedb/query.py
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ class MatchQuery(FullTextQuery):
     boost : float, default 1.0
         The boost factor for the query.
         The score of each matching document is multiplied by this value.
-    fuzziness : int, optional
+    fuzziness : int or None, default 0
         The maximum edit distance for each term in the match query.
         Defaults to 0 (exact match).
         If None, fuzziness is applied automatically by the rules:
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ class MatchQuery(FullTextQuery):
     query: str
     column: str
     boost: float = pydantic.Field(1.0, kw_only=True)
-    fuzziness: int = pydantic.Field(0, kw_only=True)
+    fuzziness: Optional[int] = pydantic.Field(0, kw_only=True)
     max_expansions: int = pydantic.Field(50, kw_only=True)
     operator: FullTextOperator = pydantic.Field(FullTextOperator.OR, kw_only=True)
     prefix_length: int = pydantic.Field(0, kw_only=True)
diff --git a/python/python/tests/test_fts.py b/python/python/tests/test_fts.py
index 5107ed445..a867d8405 100644
--- a/python/python/tests/test_fts.py
+++ b/python/python/tests/test_fts.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 #  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 #  limitations under the License.
+import json
 import os
 import random
 import shutil
@@ -1137,6 +1138,34 @@ def test_fts_lindera_tokenizer(
     assert [row["text"] for row in results] == ["成田国際空港"]
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("fuzziness", [None, 0, 1, 2])
+def test_match_query_fuzziness_to_json(fuzziness):
+    query = MatchQuery("puppy", "text", fuzziness=fuzziness)
+
+    assert query.fuzziness == fuzziness
+    assert json.loads(query.to_json())["match"]["fuzziness"] == fuzziness
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "options, expected",
+    [
+        pytest.param({}, ["ab"], id="default-exact"),
+        pytest.param({"fuzziness": 0}, ["ab"], id="explicit-exact"),
+        pytest.param({"fuzziness": None}, ["ab"], id="automatic"),
+        pytest.param({"fuzziness": 1}, ["ab", "ac"], id="one-edit"),
+        pytest.param({"fuzziness": 2}, ["ab", "ac", "zz"], id="two-edits"),
+    ],
+)
+def test_match_query_fuzziness_search(tmp_db, options, expected):
+    # Automatic fuzziness is zero for two-character terms.
+    table = tmp_db.create_table("fuzzy", pa.table({"text": ["ab", "ac", "zz"]}))
+    table.create_index("text", config=FTS(stem=False, remove_stop_words=False))
+
+    results = table.search(MatchQuery("ab", "text", **options)).to_list()
+
+    assert sorted(row["text"] for row in results) == sorted(expected)
+
+
 def test_fts_query_to_json():
     """Test that FTS query to_json() produces valid JSON strings with exact format."""