diff --git a/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/projection/DocumentProjector.java b/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/projection/DocumentProjector.java
index a48f6231ac..e29260864a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/projection/DocumentProjector.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/projection/DocumentProjector.java
@@ -138,7 +138,8 @@ PathCollector collectFromObject(JsonNode ob, String parentPath) {
               ErrorCode.UNSUPPORTED_PROJECTION_PARAM.getMessage()
                   + ": empty paths (and path segments) not allowed");
         }
-        if (path.charAt(0) == '$') {
+        if (path.charAt(0) == '$'
+            && !path.equals(DocumentConstants.Fields.VECTOR_EMBEDDING_FIELD)) {
           // First: no operators allowed at root level
           if (parentPath == null) {
             throw new JsonApiException(
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/api/v1/VectorSearchIntegrationTest.java b/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/api/v1/VectorSearchIntegrationTest.java
index f8539eee58..b5d6bc2ff5 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/api/v1/VectorSearchIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/api/v1/VectorSearchIntegrationTest.java
@@ -392,6 +392,7 @@ public void happyPath() {
         {
           "find": {
             "sort" : {"$vector" : [0.15, 0.1, 0.1, 0.35, 0.55]},
+            "projection" : {"_id" : 1, "$vector" : 1},
             "options" : {
                 "limit" : 5
             }
@@ -408,8 +409,11 @@ public void happyPath() {
           .then()
           .statusCode(200)
           .body("data.documents[0]._id", is("3"))
+          .body("data.documents[0].$vector", is(notNullValue()))
           .body("data.documents[1]._id", is("2"))
+          .body("data.documents[1].$vector", is(notNullValue()))
           .body("data.documents[2]._id", is("1"))
+          .body("data.documents[2].$vector", is(notNullValue()))
           .body("errors", is(nullValue()));
     }
 
@@ -421,6 +425,7 @@ public void happyPathWithFilter() {
         {
           "find": {
             "filter" : {"_id" : "1"},
+            "projection" : {"_id" : 1, "$vector" : 0},
             "sort" : {"$vector" : [0.15, 0.1, 0.1, 0.35, 0.55]},
             "options" : {
                 "limit" : 5
@@ -438,6 +443,7 @@ public void happyPathWithFilter() {
           .then()
           .statusCode(200)
           .body("data.documents[0]._id", is("1"))
+          .body("data.documents[0].$vector", is(nullValue()))
           .body("errors", is(nullValue()));
     }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/projection/DocumentProjectorTest.java b/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/projection/DocumentProjectorTest.java
index 20d57927e0..7721db0ede 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/projection/DocumentProjectorTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/service/projection/DocumentProjectorTest.java
@@ -263,7 +263,8 @@ public void testSimpleIncludeWithId() throws Exception {
                          },
                          "nested2" : {
                             "z": 5
-                         }
+                         },
+                         "$vector" : [0.11, 0.22, 0.33, 0.44]
                       }
                       """);
       DocumentProjector projection =
@@ -275,7 +276,8 @@ public void testSimpleIncludeWithId() throws Exception {
                            "x": 1
                         },
                         "nested.z": 1,
-                        "nosuchprop": 1
+                        "nosuchprop": 1,
+                        "$vector": 1
                       }
                       """));
       assertThat(projection.isInclusion()).isTrue();
@@ -289,7 +291,8 @@ public void testSimpleIncludeWithId() throws Exception {
                  "nested" : {
                     "x": 3,
                     "z": -1
-                 }
+                 },
+                 "$vector" : [0.11, 0.22, 0.33, 0.44]
               }
                       """));
     }
@@ -392,7 +395,8 @@ public void excludeWithIdIncluded() throws Exception {
                          },
                          "nested2" : {
                             "z": 5
-                         }
+                         },
+                         "$vector" : [0.11, 0.22, 0.33, 0.44]
                       }
                       """);
       DocumentProjector projection =
@@ -405,7 +409,8 @@ public void excludeWithIdIncluded() throws Exception {
                                        "x": 0
                                     },
                                     "nested.z": 0,
-                                    "nosuchprop": 0
+                                    "nosuchprop": 0,
+                                    "$vector": 0
                                   }
                                   """));
       assertThat(projection.isInclusion()).isFalse();