diff --git a/lucene/CHANGES.txt b/lucene/CHANGES.txt
index 975d36092d9..0653bec89de 100644
--- a/lucene/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/lucene/CHANGES.txt
@@ -360,6 +360,9 @@ Optimizations
 * GITHUB#13636: Optimizations to the decoding logic of blocks of postings.
   (Adrien Grand, Uwe Schindler)
 
+* GITHUB##13644: Improve NumericComparator competitive iterator logic by comparing the missing value with the top
+  value even after the hit queue is full (Pan Guixin)
+
 Changes in runtime behavior
 ---------------------
 
diff --git a/lucene/core/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/comparators/NumericComparator.java b/lucene/core/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/comparators/NumericComparator.java
index 3d1a84ee645..f967e0cfd88 100644
--- a/lucene/core/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/comparators/NumericComparator.java
+++ b/lucene/core/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/comparators/NumericComparator.java
@@ -342,25 +342,31 @@ public abstract class NumericComparator<T extends Number> extends FieldComparato
     }
 
     private boolean isMissingValueCompetitive() {
-      // if queue is full, always compare with bottom,
-      // if not, check if we can compare with topValue
+      // if queue is full, compare with bottom first,
+      // if competitive, then check if we can compare with topValue
       if (queueFull) {
         int result = Long.compare(missingValueAsLong, bottomAsComparableLong());
         // in reverse (desc) sort missingValue is competitive when it's greater or equal to bottom,
         // in asc sort missingValue is competitive when it's smaller or equal to bottom
-        return reverse
-            ? (pruning == Pruning.GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL_TO ? result > 0 : result >= 0)
-            : (pruning == Pruning.GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL_TO ? result < 0 : result <= 0);
-      } else if (leafTopSet) {
+        final boolean competitive =
+            reverse
+                ? (pruning == Pruning.GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL_TO ? result > 0 : result >= 0)
+                : (pruning == Pruning.GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL_TO ? result < 0 : result <= 0);
+        if (competitive == false) {
+          return false;
+        }
+      }
+
+      if (leafTopSet) {
         int result = Long.compare(missingValueAsLong, topAsComparableLong());
         // in reverse (desc) sort missingValue is competitive when it's smaller or equal to
         // topValue,
         // in asc sort missingValue is competitive when it's greater or equal to topValue
         return reverse ? (result <= 0) : (result >= 0);
-      } else {
-        // by default competitive
-        return true;
       }
+
+      // by default competitive
+      return true;
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/search/TestSortOptimization.java b/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/search/TestSortOptimization.java
index a1c0372cd08..710969ead95 100644
--- a/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/search/TestSortOptimization.java
+++ b/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/search/TestSortOptimization.java
@@ -285,6 +285,30 @@ public class TestSortOptimization extends LuceneTestCase {
       assertNonCompetitiveHitsAreSkipped(topDocs.totalHits.value, numDocs);
     }
 
+    {
+      // test that optimization is run when missing value setting of SortField is NOT competitive
+      // with after on asc order
+      long afterValue = 3L;
+      FieldDoc after = new FieldDoc(3, Float.NaN, new Long[] {afterValue});
+      final SortField sortField = new SortField("my_field", SortField.Type.LONG);
+      sortField.setMissingValue(2L);
+      final Sort sort = new Sort(sortField);
+      final TopFieldCollectorManager collectorManager =
+          new TopFieldCollectorManager(sort, numHits, after, totalHitsThreshold);
+      TopDocs topDocs = searcher.search(new MatchAllDocsQuery(), collectorManager);
+      assertEquals(topDocs.scoreDocs.length, numHits);
+      for (int i = 0; i < numHits; i++) {
+        FieldDoc fieldDoc = (FieldDoc) topDocs.scoreDocs[i];
+        assertEquals(afterValue + 1 + i, fieldDoc.fields[0]);
+      }
+      assertEquals(TotalHits.Relation.GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL_TO, topDocs.totalHits.relation);
+      // expect to skip all but the first leaf in the BKD tree in the first segment as well as the
+      // second segment
+      // doc-0 has no target field, so we need to minus 1
+      final int expectedSkipped = (7001 - 512 - 1) + (numDocs - 7001);
+      assertNonCompetitiveHitsAreSkipped(topDocs.totalHits.value, numDocs - expectedSkipped + 1);
+    }
+
     reader.close();
     dir.close();
   }