diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/logsdb/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/logsdb/qa/AbstractChallengeRestTest.java b/x-pack/plugin/logsdb/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/logsdb/qa/AbstractChallengeRestTest.java
index f4ccb4f64ae8e..e10fdbf3f85c3 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/logsdb/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/logsdb/qa/AbstractChallengeRestTest.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/logsdb/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/logsdb/qa/AbstractChallengeRestTest.java
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractChallengeRestTest extends ESRestTestCase {
         .setting("xpack.security.autoconfiguration.enabled", "false")
         .setting("xpack.license.self_generated.type", "trial")
         .setting("cluster.logsdb.enabled", "true")
+        .setting("xpack.ml.enabled", "false")
         .build();
 
     @Override
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/logsdb/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/logsdb/qa/BulkChallengeRestIT.java b/x-pack/plugin/logsdb/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/logsdb/qa/BulkChallengeRestIT.java
index 3f5b69c170f51..fe532f7001420 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/logsdb/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/logsdb/qa/BulkChallengeRestIT.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/logsdb/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/logsdb/qa/BulkChallengeRestIT.java
@@ -12,8 +12,10 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.function.IntFunction;
 
 /**
  * Challenge test that uses bulk indexing for both baseline and contender sides.
@@ -23,6 +25,8 @@
  */
 public class BulkChallengeRestIT extends StandardVersusLogsIndexModeChallengeRestIT {
 
+    private static final int BULK_BATCH_SIZE = 20;
+
     public BulkChallengeRestIT() {}
 
     protected BulkChallengeRestIT(DataGenerationHelper dataGenerationHelper) {
@@ -38,40 +42,62 @@ public void indexDocuments(
         indexBaselineDocuments(baselineSupplier, contenderResponseEntity);
     }
 
-    private Map<String, Object> indexContenderDocuments(final CheckedSupplier<List<XContentBuilder>, IOException> documentsSupplier)
+    private List<Map<String, Object>> indexContenderDocuments(final CheckedSupplier<List<XContentBuilder>, IOException> documentsSupplier)
         throws IOException {
-        final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
-        int id = 0;
-        for (var document : documentsSupplier.get()) {
-            if (autoGenerateId()) {
-                sb.append("{ \"create\": { } }\n");
-            } else {
-                sb.append(Strings.format("{ \"create\": { \"_id\" : \"%d\" } }\n", id));
-            }
-            sb.append(Strings.toString(document)).append("\n");
-            id++;
-        }
-        return performBulkRequest(sb.toString(), false);
+        final IntFunction<String> bulkActionGenerator = id -> autoGenerateId()
+            ? "{ \"create\": { } }\n"
+            : Strings.format("{ \"create\": { \"_id\" : \"%d\" } }\n", id);
+
+        return indexDocumentsInBatches(documentsSupplier.get(), bulkActionGenerator, false);
     }
 
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
     private void indexBaselineDocuments(
         final CheckedSupplier<List<XContentBuilder>, IOException> documentsSupplier,
-        final Map<String, Object> contenderResponseEntity
+        final List<Map<String, Object>> contenderItems
     ) throws IOException {
-        final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
-        int id = 0;
-        final List<Map<String, Object>> items = (List<Map<String, Object>>) contenderResponseEntity.get("items");
-        for (var document : documentsSupplier.get()) {
+        final IntFunction<String> bulkActionGenerator = id -> {
             if (autoGenerateId()) {
-                var contenderId = ((Map<String, Object>) items.get(id).get("create")).get("_id");
-                sb.append(Strings.format("{ \"create\": { \"_id\" : \"%s\" } }\n", contenderId));
+                final var contenderId = ((Map<String, Object>) contenderItems.get(id).get("create")).get("_id");
+                return Strings.format("{ \"create\": { \"_id\" : \"%s\" } }\n", contenderId);
             } else {
-                sb.append(Strings.format("{ \"create\": { \"_id\" : \"%d\" } }\n", id));
+                return Strings.format("{ \"create\": { \"_id\" : \"%d\" } }\n", id);
             }
+        };
+
+        indexDocumentsInBatches(documentsSupplier.get(), bulkActionGenerator, true);
+    }
+
+    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+    private List<Map<String, Object>> indexDocumentsInBatches(
+        final List<XContentBuilder> documents,
+        final IntFunction<String> bulkActionGenerator,
+        final boolean isBaseline
+    ) throws IOException {
+        final List<Map<String, Object>> allItems = new ArrayList<>();
+        final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+        int id = 0;
+        int batchCount = 0;
+
+        for (final var document : documents) {
+            sb.append(bulkActionGenerator.apply(id));
             sb.append(Strings.toString(document)).append("\n");
             id++;
+            batchCount++;
+
+            if (batchCount >= BULK_BATCH_SIZE) {
+                final Map<String, Object> response = performBulkRequest(sb.toString(), isBaseline);
+                allItems.addAll((List<Map<String, Object>>) response.get("items"));
+                sb.setLength(0);
+                batchCount = 0;
+            }
         }
-        performBulkRequest(sb.toString(), true);
+
+        if (batchCount > 0) {
+            final Map<String, Object> response = performBulkRequest(sb.toString(), isBaseline);
+            allItems.addAll((List<Map<String, Object>>) response.get("items"));
+        }
+
+        return allItems;
     }
 }