diff --git a/python/cuvs/cuvs/neighbors/nn_descent/nn_descent.pyx b/python/cuvs/cuvs/neighbors/nn_descent/nn_descent.pyx
index 70ca0853a..9dd14c27e 100644
--- a/python/cuvs/cuvs/neighbors/nn_descent/nn_descent.pyx
+++ b/python/cuvs/cuvs/neighbors/nn_descent/nn_descent.pyx
@@ -70,8 +70,6 @@ cdef class IndexParams:
         More iterations produce a better quality graph at cost of performance
     termination_threshold : float
         The delta at which nn-descent will terminate its iterations
-    return_distances : bool
-        Whether or not to include distances in the output.
     """
 
     cdef cuvsNNDescentIndexParams* params
@@ -90,7 +88,6 @@ cdef class IndexParams:
                  intermediate_graph_degree=None,
                  max_iterations=None,
                  termination_threshold=None,
-                 return_distances=None,
                  n_clusters=None
                  ):
         if metric is not None:
@@ -103,11 +100,14 @@ cdef class IndexParams:
             self.params.max_iterations = max_iterations
         if termination_threshold is not None:
             self.params.termination_threshold = termination_threshold
-        if return_distances is not None:
-            self.params.return_distances = return_distances
         if n_clusters is not None:
             self.params.n_clusters = n_clusters
 
+        # setting this parameter to true will cause an exception in the c++
+        # api (`Using return_distances set to true requires distance view to
+        # be allocated.`) - so instead force to be false here
+        self.params.return_distances = False
+
     @property
     def metric(self):
         return DISTANCE_NAMES[self.params.metric]
@@ -132,10 +132,6 @@ cdef class IndexParams:
     def termination_threshold(self):
         return self.params.termination_threshold
 
-    @property
-    def return_distances(self):
-        return self.params.return_distances
-
     @property
     def n_clusters(self):
         return self.params.n_clusters