diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b4e7e1579..bc046ed54 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ### Deprecated
 ### Removed
 ### Fixed
+* Fixed `Elastica\Search::count()` silently dropping the `search_type=query_then_fetch` option due to a malformed array literal that wrapped it in a numeric-keyed sub-array.
 ### Security
 
 
diff --git a/src/Search.php b/src/Search.php
index e5ef0fcfd..447942d4c 100644
--- a/src/Search.php
+++ b/src/Search.php
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ public function count($query = '', bool $fullResult = false)
 
         $params = [
             'body' => $query->toArray(),
-            [self::OPTION_SEARCH_TYPE => self::OPTION_SEARCH_TYPE_QUERY_THEN_FETCH],
+            self::OPTION_SEARCH_TYPE => self::OPTION_SEARCH_TYPE_QUERY_THEN_FETCH,
         ];
 
         if ($indices = $this->getIndices()) {
diff --git a/tests/SearchTest.php b/tests/SearchTest.php
index 697e3bbb8..3d5f05e7a 100644
--- a/tests/SearchTest.php
+++ b/tests/SearchTest.php
@@ -503,6 +503,32 @@ public function testCountRequest(): void
         $this->assertEquals(0, $count);
     }
 
+    #[Group('functional')]
+    public function testCountSendsSearchTypeQueryThenFetch(): void
+    {
+        $client = $this->_getClient();
+        $index = $client->getIndex('count_search_type_test');
+        $index->create([], ['recreate' => true]);
+        $index->addDocument(new Document('1', ['foo' => 'bar']));
+        $index->refresh();
+
+        $search = new Search($client);
+        $search->addIndex($index);
+        $search->count(new MatchAll());
+
+        $lastRequest = $client->getLastRequest();
+        $this->assertNotNull($lastRequest);
+
+        \parse_str($lastRequest->getUri()->getQuery(), $query);
+
+        // Without the fix, the search_type option was wrapped in a numeric-keyed
+        // sub-array of $params and silently dropped from the request.
+        $this->assertSame(
+            Search::OPTION_SEARCH_TYPE_QUERY_THEN_FETCH,
+            $query[Search::OPTION_SEARCH_TYPE] ?? null
+        );
+    }
+
     #[Group('functional')]
     public function testCountRequestGet(): void
     {