diff --git a/app/vmselect/prometheus/prometheus.go b/app/vmselect/prometheus/prometheus.go
index d62bd0448..c5ec39e6b 100644
--- a/app/vmselect/prometheus/prometheus.go
+++ b/app/vmselect/prometheus/prometheus.go
@@ -616,7 +616,12 @@ func SeriesHandler(qt *querytracer.Tracer, startTime time.Time, w http.ResponseW
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	sq := storage.NewSearchQuery(cp.start, cp.end, cp.filterss, *maxSeriesLimit)
+
+	minLimit := *maxSeriesLimit
+	if limit > 0 && limit < *maxSeriesLimit {
+		minLimit = limit
+	}
+	sq := storage.NewSearchQuery(cp.start, cp.end, cp.filterss, minLimit)
 	metricNames, err := netstorage.SearchMetricNames(qt, sq, cp.deadline)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cannot fetch time series for %q: %w", sq, err)