diff --git a/src/plugins/data/server/search/strategies/ese_search/request_utils.test.ts b/src/plugins/data/server/search/strategies/ese_search/request_utils.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..ccb9020600240e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/plugins/data/server/search/strategies/ese_search/request_utils.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
+ * 2.0 and the Server Side Public License, v 1; you may not use this file except
+ * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
+ * Side Public License, v 1.
+ */
+
+import {
+  getDefaultAsyncSubmitParams,
+  getDefaultAsyncGetParams,
+  getIgnoreThrottled,
+} from './request_utils';
+import { IUiSettingsClient } from 'kibana/server';
+import { UI_SETTINGS } from '../../../../common';
+import moment from 'moment';
+import { SearchSessionsConfigSchema } from '../../../../config';
+
+const getMockUiSettingsClient = (config: Record<string, unknown>) => {
+  return { get: async (key: string) => config[key] } as IUiSettingsClient;
+};
+
+const getMockSearchSessionsConfig = ({
+  enabled = true,
+  defaultExpiration = moment.duration(7, 'd'),
+} = {}) =>
+  ({
+    enabled,
+    defaultExpiration,
+  } as SearchSessionsConfigSchema);
+
+describe('request utils', () => {
+  describe('getIgnoreThrottled', () => {
+    test('returns `ignore_throttled` as `true` when `includeFrozen` is `false`', async () => {
+      const mockUiSettingsClient = getMockUiSettingsClient({
+        [UI_SETTINGS.SEARCH_INCLUDE_FROZEN]: false,
+      });
+      const result = await getIgnoreThrottled(mockUiSettingsClient);
+      expect(result.ignore_throttled).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    test('returns `ignore_throttled` as `false` when `includeFrozen` is `true`', async () => {
+      const mockUiSettingsClient = getMockUiSettingsClient({
+        [UI_SETTINGS.SEARCH_INCLUDE_FROZEN]: true,
+      });
+      const result = await getIgnoreThrottled(mockUiSettingsClient);
+      expect(result.ignore_throttled).toBe(false);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('getDefaultAsyncSubmitParams', () => {
+    test('Uses `keep_alive` from default params if no `sessionId` is provided', async () => {
+      const mockUiSettingsClient = getMockUiSettingsClient({
+        [UI_SETTINGS.SEARCH_INCLUDE_FROZEN]: false,
+      });
+      const mockConfig = getMockSearchSessionsConfig({
+        defaultExpiration: moment.duration(3, 'd'),
+      });
+      const params = await getDefaultAsyncSubmitParams(mockUiSettingsClient, mockConfig, {});
+      expect(params).toHaveProperty('keep_alive', '1m');
+    });
+
+    test('Uses `keep_alive` from config if enabled', async () => {
+      const mockUiSettingsClient = getMockUiSettingsClient({
+        [UI_SETTINGS.SEARCH_INCLUDE_FROZEN]: false,
+      });
+      const mockConfig = getMockSearchSessionsConfig({
+        defaultExpiration: moment.duration(3, 'd'),
+      });
+      const params = await getDefaultAsyncSubmitParams(mockUiSettingsClient, mockConfig, {
+        sessionId: 'foo',
+      });
+      expect(params).toHaveProperty('keep_alive', '259200000ms');
+    });
+
+    test('Uses `keepAlive` of `1m` if disabled', async () => {
+      const mockUiSettingsClient = getMockUiSettingsClient({
+        [UI_SETTINGS.SEARCH_INCLUDE_FROZEN]: false,
+      });
+      const mockConfig = getMockSearchSessionsConfig({
+        defaultExpiration: moment.duration(3, 'd'),
+        enabled: false,
+      });
+      const params = await getDefaultAsyncSubmitParams(mockUiSettingsClient, mockConfig, {
+        sessionId: 'foo',
+      });
+      expect(params).toHaveProperty('keep_alive', '1m');
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('getDefaultAsyncGetParams', () => {
+    test('Uses `wait_for_completion_timeout`', async () => {
+      const params = getDefaultAsyncGetParams({});
+      expect(params).toHaveProperty('wait_for_completion_timeout');
+    });
+
+    test('Uses `keep_alive` if `sessionId` is not provided', async () => {
+      const params = getDefaultAsyncGetParams({});
+      expect(params).toHaveProperty('keep_alive', '1m');
+    });
+
+    test('Has no `keep_alive` if `sessionId` is provided', async () => {
+      const params = getDefaultAsyncGetParams({ sessionId: 'foo' });
+      expect(params).not.toHaveProperty('keep_alive');
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/plugins/data/server/search/strategies/ese_search/request_utils.ts b/src/plugins/data/server/search/strategies/ese_search/request_utils.ts
index 70da0ba2edcc33..9b83efad0e09eb 100644
--- a/src/plugins/data/server/search/strategies/ese_search/request_utils.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/data/server/search/strategies/ese_search/request_utils.ts
@@ -46,21 +46,18 @@ export async function getDefaultAsyncSubmitParams(
     | 'keep_on_completion'
   >
 > {
+  // TODO: searchSessionsConfig could be "null" if we are running without x-pack which happens only in tests.
+  // This can be cleaned up when we completely stop separating basic and oss
+  const keepAlive = searchSessionsConfig?.enabled
+    ? `${searchSessionsConfig.defaultExpiration.asMilliseconds()}ms`
+    : '1m';
   return {
     batched_reduce_size: 64,
     keep_on_completion: !!options.sessionId, // Always return an ID, even if the request completes quickly
     ...getDefaultAsyncGetParams(options),
     ...(await getIgnoreThrottled(uiSettingsClient)),
     ...(await getDefaultSearchParams(uiSettingsClient)),
-    ...(options.sessionId
-      ? {
-          // TODO: searchSessionsConfig could be "null" if we are running without x-pack which happens only in tests.
-          // This can be cleaned up when we completely stop separating basic and oss
-          keep_alive: searchSessionsConfig
-            ? `${searchSessionsConfig.defaultExpiration.asMilliseconds()}ms`
-            : '1m',
-        }
-      : {}),
+    ...(options.sessionId ? { keep_alive: keepAlive } : {}),
   };
 }