diff --git a/python/python/lancedb/query.py b/python/python/lancedb/query.py
index 2012b765..1e8468bc 100644
--- a/python/python/lancedb/query.py
+++ b/python/python/lancedb/query.py
@@ -126,6 +126,9 @@ class Query(pydantic.BaseModel):
 
     ef: Optional[int] = None
 
+    # Default is true. Set to false to enforce a brute force search.
+    use_index: bool = True
+
 
 class LanceQueryBuilder(ABC):
     """An abstract query builder. Subclasses are defined for vector search,
@@ -253,6 +256,7 @@ class LanceQueryBuilder(ABC):
         self._vector = None
         self._text = None
         self._ef = None
+        self._use_index = True
 
     @deprecation.deprecated(
         deprecated_in="0.3.1",
@@ -511,6 +515,7 @@ class LanceQueryBuilder(ABC):
                 "metric": self._metric,
                 "nprobes": self._nprobes,
                 "refine_factor": self._refine_factor,
+                "use_index": self._use_index,
             },
             prefilter=self._prefilter,
             filter=self._str_query,
@@ -729,6 +734,7 @@ class LanceVectorQueryBuilder(LanceQueryBuilder):
             offset=self._offset,
             fast_search=self._fast_search,
             ef=self._ef,
+            use_index=self._use_index,
         )
         result_set = self._table._execute_query(query, batch_size)
         if self._reranker is not None:
@@ -802,6 +808,24 @@ class LanceVectorQueryBuilder(LanceQueryBuilder):
         self._str_query = query_string if query_string is not None else self._str_query
         return self
 
+    def bypass_vector_index(self) -> LanceVectorQueryBuilder:
+        """
+        If this is called then any vector index is skipped
+
+        An exhaustive (flat) search will be performed.  The query vector will
+        be compared to every vector in the table.  At high scales this can be
+        expensive.  However, this is often still useful.  For example, skipping
+        the vector index can give you ground truth results which you can use to
+        calculate your recall to select an appropriate value for nprobes.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        LanceVectorQueryBuilder
+            The LanceVectorQueryBuilder object.
+        """
+        self._use_index = False
+        return self
+
 
 class LanceFtsQueryBuilder(LanceQueryBuilder):
     """A builder for full text search for LanceDB."""
@@ -1108,6 +1132,8 @@ class LanceHybridQueryBuilder(LanceQueryBuilder):
             self._vector_query.refine_factor(self._refine_factor)
         if self._ef:
             self._vector_query.ef(self._ef)
+        if not self._use_index:
+            self._vector_query.bypass_vector_index()
 
         with ThreadPoolExecutor() as executor:
             fts_future = executor.submit(self._fts_query.with_row_id(True).to_arrow)
@@ -1323,6 +1349,24 @@ class LanceHybridQueryBuilder(LanceQueryBuilder):
         self._text = text
         return self
 
+    def bypass_vector_index(self) -> LanceHybridQueryBuilder:
+        """
+        If this is called then any vector index is skipped
+
+        An exhaustive (flat) search will be performed.  The query vector will
+        be compared to every vector in the table.  At high scales this can be
+        expensive.  However, this is often still useful.  For example, skipping
+        the vector index can give you ground truth results which you can use to
+        calculate your recall to select an appropriate value for nprobes.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        LanceHybridQueryBuilder
+            The LanceHybridQueryBuilder object.
+        """
+        self._use_index = False
+        return self
+
 
 class AsyncQueryBase(object):
     def __init__(self, inner: Union[LanceQuery | LanceVectorQuery]):
diff --git a/python/python/lancedb/table.py b/python/python/lancedb/table.py
index 34175844..ebc04320 100644
--- a/python/python/lancedb/table.py
+++ b/python/python/lancedb/table.py
@@ -2812,6 +2812,8 @@ class AsyncTable:
                 async_query = async_query.column(query.vector_column)
             if query.ef:
                 async_query = async_query.ef(query.ef)
+            if not query.use_index:
+                async_query = async_query.bypass_vector_index()
 
         if not query.prefilter:
             async_query = async_query.postfilter()
diff --git a/python/python/tests/test_db.py b/python/python/tests/test_db.py
index 893ae467..394956c8 100644
--- a/python/python/tests/test_db.py
+++ b/python/python/tests/test_db.py
@@ -681,3 +681,25 @@ def test_create_table_with_invalid_names(tmp_db: lancedb.DBConnection):
     with pytest.raises(ValueError):
         tmp_db.create_table("foo$$bar", data)
     tmp_db.create_table("foo.bar", data)
+
+
+def test_bypass_vector_index_sync(tmp_db: lancedb.DBConnection):
+    data = [{"vector": np.random.rand(32)} for _ in range(512)]
+    sample_key = data[100]["vector"]
+    table = tmp_db.create_table(
+        "test",
+        data,
+    )
+
+    table.create_index(
+        num_partitions=2,
+        num_sub_vectors=2,
+    )
+
+    plan_with_index = table.search(sample_key).explain_plan(verbose=True)
+    assert "ANN" in plan_with_index
+
+    plan_without_index = (
+        table.search(sample_key).bypass_vector_index().explain_plan(verbose=True)
+    )
+    assert "KNN" in plan_without_index