diff --git a/redisvl/index/index.py b/redisvl/index/index.py
index 9bec205c..f52de03d 100644
--- a/redisvl/index/index.py
+++ b/redisvl/index/index.py
@@ -282,6 +282,7 @@ def __init__(
         self._connection_kwargs = connection_kwargs or {}
         self._lock = threading.Lock()
 
+        self._validated_client = False
         self._owns_redis_client = redis_client is None
         if self._owns_redis_client:
             weakref.finalize(self, self.disconnect)
@@ -361,6 +362,12 @@ def _redis_client(self) -> Optional[redis.Redis]:
                         redis_url=self._redis_url,
                         **self._connection_kwargs,
                     )
+        if not self._validated_client:
+            RedisConnectionFactory.validate_sync_redis(
+                self.__redis_client,
+                self._lib_name,
+            )
+            self._validated_client = True
         return self.__redis_client
 
     @deprecated_function("connect", "Pass connection parameters in __init__.")
@@ -858,6 +865,7 @@ def __init__(
         self._connection_kwargs = connection_kwargs or {}
         self._lock = asyncio.Lock()
 
+        self._validated_client = False
         self._owns_redis_client = redis_client is None
         if self._owns_redis_client:
             weakref.finalize(self, sync_wrapper(self.disconnect))
@@ -954,9 +962,12 @@ async def _get_client(self) -> aredis.Redis:
                     self._redis_client = (
                         await RedisConnectionFactory._get_aredis_connection(**kwargs)
                     )
+        if not self._validated_client:
             await RedisConnectionFactory.validate_async_redis(
-                self._redis_client, self._lib_name
+                self._redis_client,
+                self._lib_name,
             )
+            self._validated_client = True
         return self._redis_client
 
     async def _validate_client(
diff --git a/redisvl/redis/connection.py b/redisvl/redis/connection.py
index a558fe4b..9690fb56 100644
--- a/redisvl/redis/connection.py
+++ b/redisvl/redis/connection.py
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ def validate_modules(
         required_modules: List of required modules.
 
     Raises:
-        ValueError: If required Redis modules are not installed.
+        RedisModuleVersionError: If required Redis modules are not installed.
     """
     required_modules = required_modules or DEFAULT_REQUIRED_MODULES
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_async_search_index.py b/tests/integration/test_async_search_index.py
index 2dd97e36..d1b42235 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_async_search_index.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_async_search_index.py
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 import warnings
+from unittest import mock
 
 import pytest
 from redis import Redis as SyncRedis
-from redis.asyncio import Redis
+from redis.asyncio import Redis as AsyncRedis
 
-from redisvl.exceptions import RedisSearchError
+from redisvl.exceptions import RedisModuleVersionError, RedisSearchError
 from redisvl.index import AsyncSearchIndex
 from redisvl.query import VectorQuery
 from redisvl.redis.utils import convert_bytes
@@ -172,12 +173,12 @@ async def test_search_index_set_client(client, redis_url, index_schema):
     with warnings.catch_warnings():
         warnings.filterwarnings("ignore", category=DeprecationWarning)
         await async_index.create(overwrite=True, drop=True)
-        assert isinstance(async_index.client, Redis)
+        assert isinstance(async_index.client, AsyncRedis)
 
         # Tests deprecated sync -> async conversion behavior
         assert isinstance(client, SyncRedis)
         await async_index.set_client(client)
-        assert isinstance(async_index.client, Redis)
+        assert isinstance(async_index.client, AsyncRedis)
 
     await async_index.disconnect()
     assert async_index.client is None
@@ -410,3 +411,28 @@ async def test_search_index_that_owns_client_disconnect_sync(index_schema, redis
     await async_index.create(overwrite=True, drop=True)
     await async_index.disconnect()
     assert async_index._redis_client is None
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_async_search_index_validates_redis_modules(redis_url):
+    """
+    A regression test for RAAE-694: we should validate that a passed-in
+    Redis client has the correct modules installed.
+    """
+    client = AsyncRedis.from_url(redis_url)
+    with mock.patch(
+        "redisvl.index.index.RedisConnectionFactory.validate_async_redis"
+    ) as mock_validate_async_redis:
+        mock_validate_async_redis.side_effect = RedisModuleVersionError(
+            "Required modules not installed"
+        )
+        with pytest.raises(RedisModuleVersionError):
+            index = AsyncSearchIndex(
+                schema=IndexSchema.from_dict(
+                    {"index": {"name": "my_index"}, "fields": fields}
+                ),
+                redis_client=client,
+            )
+            await index.create(overwrite=True, drop=True)
+
+        mock_validate_async_redis.assert_called_once()
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_search_index.py b/tests/integration/test_search_index.py
index fab4a591..368c048a 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_search_index.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_search_index.py
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 import warnings
+from unittest import mock
 
 import pytest
+from redis import Redis
 
-from redisvl.exceptions import RedisSearchError
+from redisvl.exceptions import RedisModuleVersionError, RedisSearchError
 from redisvl.index import SearchIndex
 from redisvl.query import VectorQuery
 from redisvl.redis.utils import convert_bytes
@@ -363,3 +365,27 @@ def test_search_index_that_owns_client_disconnect(index_schema, redis_url):
     index.create(overwrite=True, drop=True)
     index.disconnect()
     assert index.client is None
+
+
+def test_search_index_validates_redis_modules(redis_url):
+    """
+    A regression test for RAAE-694: we should validate that a passed-in
+    Redis client has the correct modules installed.
+    """
+    client = Redis.from_url(redis_url)
+    with mock.patch(
+        "redisvl.index.index.RedisConnectionFactory.validate_sync_redis"
+    ) as mock_validate_sync_redis:
+        mock_validate_sync_redis.side_effect = RedisModuleVersionError(
+            "Required modules not installed"
+        )
+        with pytest.raises(RedisModuleVersionError):
+            index = SearchIndex(
+                schema=IndexSchema.from_dict(
+                    {"index": {"name": "my_index"}, "fields": fields}
+                ),
+                redis_client=client,
+            )
+            index.create(overwrite=True, drop=True)
+
+        mock_validate_sync_redis.assert_called_once()