diff --git a/packages/rs-dpp/schema/meta_schemas/document/v1/document-meta.json b/packages/rs-dpp/schema/meta_schemas/document/v1/document-meta.json
index 9dfb6ad7499..cbe3941ceb8 100644
--- a/packages/rs-dpp/schema/meta_schemas/document/v1/document-meta.json
+++ b/packages/rs-dpp/schema/meta_schemas/document/v1/document-meta.json
@@ -588,17 +588,6 @@
         "type": "string"
       }
     },
-    "keywords": {
-      "type": "array",
-      "description": "List of up to 20 descriptive keywords for the contract, used in the Keyword Search contract",
-      "items": {
-        "type": "string",
-        "minLength": 3,
-        "maxLength": 50
-      },
-      "maxItems": 20,
-      "uniqueItems": true
-    },
     "additionalProperties": {
       "type": "boolean",
       "const": false
diff --git a/packages/rs-dpp/src/data_contract/document_type/schema/allowed_top_level_properties.rs b/packages/rs-dpp/src/data_contract/document_type/schema/allowed_top_level_properties.rs
index 2d3f6ced6df..424fb087269 100644
--- a/packages/rs-dpp/src/data_contract/document_type/schema/allowed_top_level_properties.rs
+++ b/packages/rs-dpp/src/data_contract/document_type/schema/allowed_top_level_properties.rs
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ pub const ALLOWED_DOCUMENT_SCHEMA_V1_PROPERTIES: &[&str] = &[
     "tokenCost",
     "properties",
     "transient",
-    "keywords",
     "additionalProperties",
     "required",
     "$comment",
@@ -79,6 +78,31 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(keys.contains(&"additionalProperties"));
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn strips_keywords_from_document_schema() {
+        // `keywords` was erroneously placed on the document-type meta schema
+        // by PR #2523 — the intended location is contract-level
+        // (`DataContractV1.keywords`). This test guards the v12 migration
+        // path that removes any `keywords` key that slipped onto a
+        // document-type schema in stored state.
+        let mut schema = platform_value!({
+            "type": "object",
+            "properties": {},
+            "additionalProperties": false,
+            "keywords": ["one", "two"]
+        });
+
+        let changed = strip_unknown_properties_from_document_schema(&mut schema);
+        assert!(changed);
+
+        let map = schema.as_map().unwrap();
+        let keys: Vec<&str> = map.iter().filter_map(|(k, _)| k.as_text()).collect();
+        assert!(!keys.contains(&"keywords"));
+        assert!(keys.contains(&"type"));
+        assert!(keys.contains(&"properties"));
+        assert!(keys.contains(&"additionalProperties"));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn no_change_when_all_properties_are_known() {
         let mut schema = platform_value!({
diff --git a/packages/rs-dpp/src/data_contract/methods/validate_update/v0/mod.rs b/packages/rs-dpp/src/data_contract/methods/validate_update/v0/mod.rs
index 9657db4afa3..e39b4fe8198 100644
--- a/packages/rs-dpp/src/data_contract/methods/validate_update/v0/mod.rs
+++ b/packages/rs-dpp/src/data_contract/methods/validate_update/v0/mod.rs
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ impl DataContract {
         }
 
         if self.keywords() != new_data_contract.keywords() {
-            // Validate there are no more than 50 keywords
+            // Validate there are no more than 50 contract keywords
             if new_data_contract.keywords().len() > 50 {
                 return Ok(SimpleConsensusValidationResult::new_with_error(
                     TooManyKeywordsError::new(self.id(), new_data_contract.keywords().len() as u8)
diff --git a/packages/rs-dpp/src/data_contract/v1/data_contract.rs b/packages/rs-dpp/src/data_contract/v1/data_contract.rs
index a3c51868bcb..271cfa7615c 100644
--- a/packages/rs-dpp/src/data_contract/v1/data_contract.rs
+++ b/packages/rs-dpp/src/data_contract/v1/data_contract.rs
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ use platform_value::Value;
 /// ## 4. **Keywords** (`keywords: Vec<String>`)
 /// - Keywords which contracts can be searched for via the new `search` system contract.
 /// - This vector can be left empty, but if populated, it must contain unique keywords.
-/// - The maximum number of keywords is limited to 20.
+/// - The maximum number of keywords is limited to 50.
 ///
 /// ## 5. **Description** (`description: Option<String>`)
 /// - A human-readable description of the contract.
diff --git a/packages/rs-drive-abci/src/execution/validation/state_transition/state_transitions/data_contract_create/basic_structure/v0/mod.rs b/packages/rs-drive-abci/src/execution/validation/state_transition/state_transitions/data_contract_create/basic_structure/v0/mod.rs
index 8decf78865c..79ba1b8496f 100644
--- a/packages/rs-drive-abci/src/execution/validation/state_transition/state_transitions/data_contract_create/basic_structure/v0/mod.rs
+++ b/packages/rs-drive-abci/src/execution/validation/state_transition/state_transitions/data_contract_create/basic_structure/v0/mod.rs
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ impl DataContractCreateStateTransitionBasicStructureValidationV0 for DataContrac
             }
         }
 
-        // Validate there are no more than 50 keywords
+        // Validate there are no more than 50 contract keywords
         if self.data_contract().keywords().len() > 50 {
             return Ok(SimpleConsensusValidationResult::new_with_error(
                 ConsensusError::BasicError(BasicError::TooManyKeywordsError(
diff --git a/packages/rs-drive-abci/src/execution/validation/state_transition/state_transitions/data_contract_create/mod.rs b/packages/rs-drive-abci/src/execution/validation/state_transition/state_transitions/data_contract_create/mod.rs
index 03bb9a21c96..0970e17a129 100644
--- a/packages/rs-drive-abci/src/execution/validation/state_transition/state_transitions/data_contract_create/mod.rs
+++ b/packages/rs-drive-abci/src/execution/validation/state_transition/state_transitions/data_contract_create/mod.rs
@@ -4315,6 +4315,69 @@ mod tests {
                 valid_keywords_for_verification.retain(|&x| x != keyword);
             }
         }
+
+        #[test]
+        fn test_document_type_keywords_rejected_by_v1_meta_schema() {
+            use dpp::ProtocolError;
+
+            // `keywords` is a contract-level field only. The v1 document-type
+            // meta schema (active as of protocol v12) must reject it on any
+            // document type via its root-level `additionalProperties: false`.
+            // Pinned to v12 because this is the specific version that introduced
+            // v1 meta schema enforcement.
+            let platform_version = PlatformVersion::get(12).expect("expected v12");
+            let mut platform = TestPlatformBuilder::new()
+                .build_with_mock_rpc()
+                .set_genesis_state();
+
+            let _platform_state = platform.state.load();
+            let (_identity, _signer, _key) =
+                setup_identity(&mut platform, 958, dash_to_credits!(1.0));
+
+            let data_contract = json_document_to_contract_with_ids(
+                "tests/supporting_files/contract/keyword_test/keyword_base_contract.json",
+                None,
+                None,
+                false,
+                platform_version,
+            )
+            .expect("expected to load contract");
+
+            let mut contract_value = data_contract
+                .to_value(platform_version)
+                .expect("to_value failed");
+
+            // Inject `keywords` onto the `preorder` document type schema — the
+            // wrong place for it. This should be rejected by the v1 meta
+            // schema during `DataContract::from_value` full validation.
+            contract_value["documentSchemas"]["preorder"]["keywords"] =
+                Value::Array(vec![Value::Text("invalid".to_string())]);
+
+            let err = DataContract::from_value(contract_value, true, platform_version)
+                .expect_err("meta schema validation must reject document-type keywords");
+
+            // Assert the failure is specifically a JSON schema validation error
+            // (i.e. the meta schema rejected the unknown `keywords` property),
+            // not an unrelated error such as a serialization or structural issue.
+            match err {
+                ProtocolError::ConsensusError(consensus_err) => match *consensus_err {
+                    ConsensusError::BasicError(BasicError::JsonSchemaError(js_err)) => {
+                        // The rejection should be driven by `additionalProperties`
+                        // / `unevaluatedProperties` at the meta-schema root, and
+                        // the offending property name must be `keywords`.
+                        let summary = js_err.error_summary();
+                        assert!(
+                            summary.contains("keywords"),
+                            "expected JSON schema error to reference `keywords`, got: {summary}"
+                        );
+                    }
+                    other => panic!(
+                        "expected BasicError::JsonSchemaError, got ConsensusError: {other:?}"
+                    ),
+                },
+                other => panic!("expected ProtocolError::ConsensusError, got: {other:?}"),
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     mod descriptions {