diff --git a/lib/model.js b/lib/model.js
index e83a61be4f..0a1091ab2b 100644
--- a/lib/model.js
+++ b/lib/model.js
@@ -3368,11 +3368,19 @@ Model.bulkWrite = async function bulkWrite(ops, options) {
 };
 
 /**
- *  takes an array of documents, gets the changes and inserts/updates documents in the database
- *  according to whether or not the document is new, or whether it has changes or not.
+ * Takes an array of documents, gets the changes and inserts/updates documents in the database
+ * according to whether or not the document is new, or whether it has changes or not.
  *
  * `bulkSave` uses `bulkWrite` under the hood, so it's mostly useful when dealing with many documents (10K+)
  *
+ * `bulkSave()` throws errors under the following conditions:
+ *
+ * - one of the provided documents fails validation. In this case, `bulkSave()` does not send a `bulkWrite()`, and throws the first validation error.
+ * - `bulkWrite()` fails (for example, due to being unable to connect to MongoDB or due to duplicate key error)
+ * - `bulkWrite()` did not insert or update **any** documents. In this case, `bulkSave()` will throw a DocumentNotFound error.
+ *
+ * Note that `bulkSave()` will **not** throw an error if only some of the `save()` calls succeeded.
+ *
  * @param {Array<Document>} documents
  * @param {Object} [options] options passed to the underlying `bulkWrite()`
  * @param {Boolean} [options.timestamps] defaults to `null`, when set to false, mongoose will not add/update timestamps to the documents.
@@ -3380,7 +3388,7 @@ Model.bulkWrite = async function bulkWrite(ops, options) {
  * @param {String|number} [options.w=1] The [write concern](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/manual/reference/write-concern/). See [`Query#w()`](https://mongoosejs.com/docs/api/query.html#Query.prototype.w()) for more information.
  * @param {number} [options.wtimeout=null] The [write concern timeout](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/manual/reference/write-concern/#wtimeout).
  * @param {Boolean} [options.j=true] If false, disable [journal acknowledgement](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/manual/reference/write-concern/#j-option)
- *
+ * @return {BulkWriteResult} the return value from `bulkWrite()`
  */
 Model.bulkSave = async function bulkSave(documents, options) {
   options = options || {};
@@ -3408,18 +3416,31 @@ Model.bulkSave = async function bulkSave(documents, options) {
     (err) => ({ bulkWriteResult: null, bulkWriteError: err })
   );
 
-  await Promise.all(
-    documents.map(async(document) => {
-      const documentError = bulkWriteError && bulkWriteError.writeErrors.find(writeError => {
-        const writeErrorDocumentId = writeError.err.op._id || writeError.err.op.q._id;
-        return writeErrorDocumentId.toString() === document._doc._id.toString();
-      });
+  const matchedCount = bulkWriteResult?.matchedCount ?? 0;
+  const insertedCount = bulkWriteResult?.insertedCount ?? 0;
+  if (writeOperations.length > 0 && matchedCount + insertedCount === 0 && !bulkWriteError) {
+    throw new DocumentNotFoundError(
+      writeOperations.filter(op => op.updateOne).map(op => op.updateOne.filter),
+      this.modelName,
+      writeOperations.length,
+      bulkWriteResult
+    );
+  }
 
-      if (documentError == null) {
-        await handleSuccessfulWrite(document);
-      }
-    })
-  );
+  const successfulDocuments = [];
+  for (let i = 0; i < documents.length; i++) {
+    const document = documents[i];
+    const documentError = bulkWriteError && bulkWriteError.writeErrors.find(writeError => {
+      const writeErrorDocumentId = writeError.err.op._id || writeError.err.op.q._id;
+      return writeErrorDocumentId.toString() === document._doc._id.toString();
+    });
+
+    if (documentError == null) {
+      successfulDocuments.push(document);
+    }
+  }
+
+  await Promise.all(successfulDocuments.map(document => handleSuccessfulWrite(document)));
 
   if (bulkWriteError && bulkWriteError.writeErrors && bulkWriteError.writeErrors.length) {
     throw bulkWriteError;
diff --git a/test/model.test.js b/test/model.test.js
index f6943d96fc..8e94a87669 100644
--- a/test/model.test.js
+++ b/test/model.test.js
@@ -6973,6 +6973,48 @@ describe('Model', function() {
       assert.ok(err == null);
 
     });
+    it('should error if no documents were inserted or updated (gh-14763)', async function() {
+      const fooSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
+        bar: { type: Number }
+      }, { optimisticConcurrency: true });
+      const TestModel = db.model('Test', fooSchema);
+
+      const foo = await TestModel.create({
+        bar: 0
+      });
+
+      // update 1
+      foo.bar = 1;
+      await foo.save();
+
+      // parallel update
+      const fooCopy = await TestModel.findById(foo._id);
+      fooCopy.bar = 99;
+      await fooCopy.save();
+
+      foo.bar = 2;
+      const err = await TestModel.bulkSave([foo]).then(() => null, err => err);
+      assert.equal(err.name, 'DocumentNotFoundError');
+      assert.equal(err.numAffected, 1);
+      assert.ok(Array.isArray(err.filter));
+    });
+    it('should error if there is a validation error', async function() {
+      const fooSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
+        bar: { type: Number }
+      }, { optimisticConcurrency: true });
+      const TestModel = db.model('Test', fooSchema);
+
+      const docs = [
+        new TestModel({ bar: 42 }),
+        new TestModel({ bar: 'taco' })
+      ];
+      const err = await TestModel.bulkSave(docs).then(() => null, err => err);
+      assert.equal(err.name, 'ValidationError');
+
+      // bulkSave() does not save any documents if any documents fail validation
+      const fromDb = await TestModel.find();
+      assert.equal(fromDb.length, 0);
+    });
     it('Using bulkSave should not trigger an error (gh-11071)', async function() {
 
       const pairSchema = mongoose.Schema({