diff --git a/index/scorch/builder.go b/index/scorch/builder.go
index 3311bd02e..5f88f6864 100644
--- a/index/scorch/builder.go
+++ b/index/scorch/builder.go
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"sync"
 
-	"github.com/RoaringBitmap/roaring"
 	index "github.com/blevesearch/bleve_index_api"
 	segment "github.com/blevesearch/scorch_segment_api/v2"
 	bolt "go.etcd.io/bbolt"
@@ -209,7 +208,7 @@ func (o *Builder) doMerge() error {
 
 		// do the merge
 		mergedSegPath := o.buildPath + string(os.PathSeparator) + zapFileName(o.segCount)
-		drops := make([]*roaring.Bitmap, mergeCount)
+		drops := make([]segment.Bitmap, mergeCount)
 		_, _, err := o.segPlugin.Merge(mergeSegs, drops, mergedSegPath, nil, nil)
 		if err != nil {
 			_ = closeOpenedSegs()
diff --git a/index/scorch/introducer.go b/index/scorch/introducer.go
index 8516d411d..553895434 100644
--- a/index/scorch/introducer.go
+++ b/index/scorch/introducer.go
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"sync/atomic"
 
-	"github.com/RoaringBitmap/roaring"
 	index "github.com/blevesearch/bleve_index_api"
 	segment "github.com/blevesearch/scorch_segment_api/v2"
 )
@@ -26,7 +25,7 @@ import (
 type segmentIntroduction struct {
 	id        uint64
 	data      segment.Segment
-	obsoletes map[uint64]*roaring.Bitmap
+	obsoletes map[uint64]segment.Bitmap
 	ids       []string
 	internal  map[string][]byte
 
@@ -143,7 +142,7 @@ func (s *Scorch) introduceSegment(next *segmentIntroduction) error {
 		if root.segment[i].deleted == nil {
 			newss.deleted = delta
 		} else {
-			newss.deleted = roaring.Or(root.segment[i].deleted, delta)
+			newss.deleted = root.segment[i].deleted.OrNew(delta)
 		}
 		if newss.deleted.IsEmpty() {
 			newss.deleted = nil
@@ -321,7 +320,7 @@ func (s *Scorch) introduceMerge(nextMerge *segmentMerge) {
 	}
 
 	// iterate through current segments
-	newSegmentDeleted := roaring.NewBitmap()
+	newSegmentDeleted := s.segPlugin.NewBitmap()
 	var running, docsToPersistCount, memSegments, fileSegments uint64
 	for i := range root.segment {
 		segmentID := root.segment[i].id
@@ -332,7 +331,7 @@ func (s *Scorch) introduceMerge(nextMerge *segmentMerge) {
 				deletedSince := root.segment[i].deleted
 				// if we already knew about some of them, remove
 				if segSnapAtMerge.deleted != nil {
-					deletedSince = roaring.AndNot(root.segment[i].deleted, segSnapAtMerge.deleted)
+					deletedSince = root.segment[i].deleted.AndNotNew(segSnapAtMerge.deleted)
 				}
 				deletedSinceItr := deletedSince.Iterator()
 				for deletedSinceItr.HasNext() {
@@ -373,7 +372,7 @@ func (s *Scorch) introduceMerge(nextMerge *segmentMerge) {
 	// merged segment wrt the current root segments, hence
 	// applying the obsolete segment contents to newly merged segment
 	for segID, ss := range nextMerge.old {
-		obsoleted := ss.DocNumbersLive()
+		obsoleted := ss.DocNumbersLive(s.segPlugin.NewBitmap())
 		if obsoleted != nil {
 			obsoletedIter := obsoleted.Iterator()
 			for obsoletedIter.HasNext() {
diff --git a/index/scorch/merge.go b/index/scorch/merge.go
index 1e269afc6..431403046 100644
--- a/index/scorch/merge.go
+++ b/index/scorch/merge.go
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import (
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/RoaringBitmap/roaring"
 	"github.com/blevesearch/bleve/v2/index/scorch/mergeplan"
 	segment "github.com/blevesearch/scorch_segment_api/v2"
 )
@@ -285,7 +284,7 @@ func (s *Scorch) planMergeAtSnapshot(ctx context.Context,
 		oldMap := make(map[uint64]*SegmentSnapshot)
 		newSegmentID := atomic.AddUint64(&s.nextSegmentID, 1)
 		segmentsToMerge := make([]segment.Segment, 0, len(task.Segments))
-		docsToDrop := make([]*roaring.Bitmap, 0, len(task.Segments))
+		docsToDrop := make([]segment.Bitmap, 0, len(task.Segments))
 
 		for _, planSegment := range task.Segments {
 			if segSnapshot, ok := planSegment.(*SegmentSnapshot); ok {
@@ -422,7 +421,7 @@ type segmentMerge struct {
 // persisted segment, and synchronously introduce that new segment
 // into the root
 func (s *Scorch) mergeSegmentBases(snapshot *IndexSnapshot,
-	sbs []segment.Segment, sbsDrops []*roaring.Bitmap,
+	sbs []segment.Segment, sbsDrops []segment.Bitmap,
 	sbsIndexes []int) (*IndexSnapshot, uint64, error) {
 	atomic.AddUint64(&s.stats.TotMemMergeBeg, 1)
 
diff --git a/index/scorch/optimize.go b/index/scorch/optimize.go
index 3c7969fa9..8f9c1c325 100644
--- a/index/scorch/optimize.go
+++ b/index/scorch/optimize.go
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ package scorch
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"github.com/RoaringBitmap/roaring"
 	index "github.com/blevesearch/bleve_index_api"
 	segment "github.com/blevesearch/scorch_segment_api/v2"
 	"sync/atomic"
@@ -89,7 +88,7 @@ func (o *OptimizeTFRConjunction) Finish() (index.Optimized, error) {
 			continue
 		}
 
-		bm := roaring.And(itr0.ActualBitmap(), itr1.ActualBitmap())
+		bm := itr0.ActualBitmap().AndNew(itr1.ActualBitmap())
 
 		for _, tfr := range o.tfrs[2:] {
 			itr, ok := tfr.iterators[i].(segment.OptimizablePostingsIterator)
@@ -164,7 +163,7 @@ func (o *OptimizeTFRConjunctionUnadorned) Finish() (rv index.Optimized, err erro
 	oTFR := o.snapshot.unadornedTermFieldReader(
 		OptimizeTFRConjunctionUnadornedTerm, OptimizeTFRConjunctionUnadornedField)
 
-	var actualBMs []*roaring.Bitmap // Collected from regular posting lists.
+	var actualBMs []segment.Bitmap // Collected from regular posting lists.
 
 OUTER:
 	for i := range o.snapshot.segment {
@@ -248,7 +247,7 @@ OUTER:
 		}
 
 		// Else, AND together our collected bitmaps as our result.
-		bm := roaring.And(actualBMs[0], actualBMs[1])
+		bm := actualBMs[0].AndNew(actualBMs[1])
 
 		for _, actualBM := range actualBMs[2:] {
 			bm.And(actualBM)
@@ -331,7 +330,7 @@ func (o *OptimizeTFRDisjunctionUnadorned) Finish() (rv index.Optimized, err erro
 		OptimizeTFRDisjunctionUnadornedTerm, OptimizeTFRDisjunctionUnadornedField)
 
 	var docNums []uint32            // Collected docNum's from 1-hit posting lists.
-	var actualBMs []*roaring.Bitmap // Collected from regular posting lists.
+	var actualBMs []segment.Bitmap // Collected from regular posting lists.
 
 	for i := range o.snapshot.segment {
 		docNums = docNums[:0]
@@ -354,17 +353,17 @@ func (o *OptimizeTFRDisjunctionUnadorned) Finish() (rv index.Optimized, err erro
 			}
 		}
 
-		var bm *roaring.Bitmap
+		var bm segment.Bitmap
 		if len(actualBMs) > 2 {
-			bm = roaring.HeapOr(actualBMs...)
+			bm = actualBMs[0].HeapOrNew(actualBMs[1:]...)
 		} else if len(actualBMs) == 2 {
-			bm = roaring.Or(actualBMs[0], actualBMs[1])
+			bm = actualBMs[0].OrNew(actualBMs[1])
 		} else if len(actualBMs) == 1 {
 			bm = actualBMs[0].Clone()
 		}
 
 		if bm == nil {
-			bm = roaring.New()
+			bm = o.snapshot.parent.segPlugin.NewBitmap()
 		}
 
 		bm.AddMany(docNums)
diff --git a/index/scorch/persister.go b/index/scorch/persister.go
index 36a0379e6..31795c7b3 100644
--- a/index/scorch/persister.go
+++ b/index/scorch/persister.go
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ import (
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/RoaringBitmap/roaring"
 	index "github.com/blevesearch/bleve_index_api"
 	segment "github.com/blevesearch/scorch_segment_api/v2"
 	bolt "go.etcd.io/bbolt"
@@ -358,7 +357,7 @@ func (s *Scorch) persistSnapshotMaybeMerge(snapshot *IndexSnapshot) (
 	bool, error) {
 	// collect the in-memory zap segments (SegmentBase instances)
 	var sbs []segment.Segment
-	var sbsDrops []*roaring.Bitmap
+	var sbsDrops []segment.Bitmap
 	var sbsIndexes []int
 
 	for i, segmentSnapshot := range snapshot.segment {
@@ -506,13 +505,13 @@ func prepareBoltSnapshot(snapshot *IndexSnapshot, tx *bolt.Tx, path string,
 			return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown segment type: %T", seg)
 		}
 		// store current deleted bits
-		var roaringBuf bytes.Buffer
+		var bitmapBuf bytes.Buffer
 		if segmentSnapshot.deleted != nil {
-			_, err = segmentSnapshot.deleted.WriteTo(&roaringBuf)
+			_, err = segmentSnapshot.deleted.WriteTo(&bitmapBuf)
 			if err != nil {
-				return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("error persisting roaring bytes: %v", err)
+				return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("error persisting bitmap bytes: %v", err)
 			}
-			err = snapshotSegmentBucket.Put(boltDeletedKey, roaringBuf.Bytes())
+			err = snapshotSegmentBucket.Put(boltDeletedKey, bitmapBuf.Bytes())
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, nil, err
 			}
@@ -774,7 +773,7 @@ func (s *Scorch) loadSegment(segmentBucket *bolt.Bucket) (*SegmentSnapshot, erro
 	}
 	deletedBytes := segmentBucket.Get(boltDeletedKey)
 	if deletedBytes != nil {
-		deletedBitmap := roaring.NewBitmap()
+		deletedBitmap := s.segPlugin.NewBitmap()
 		r := bytes.NewReader(deletedBytes)
 		_, err := deletedBitmap.ReadFrom(r)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/index/scorch/scorch.go b/index/scorch/scorch.go
index fa1aaebbf..75a795a6c 100644
--- a/index/scorch/scorch.go
+++ b/index/scorch/scorch.go
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import (
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/RoaringBitmap/roaring"
 	"github.com/blevesearch/bleve/v2/registry"
 	index "github.com/blevesearch/bleve_index_api"
 	segment "github.com/blevesearch/scorch_segment_api/v2"
@@ -413,7 +412,7 @@ func (s *Scorch) prepareSegment(newSegment segment.Segment, ids []string,
 		id:                atomic.AddUint64(&s.nextSegmentID, 1),
 		data:              newSegment,
 		ids:               ids,
-		obsoletes:         make(map[uint64]*roaring.Bitmap),
+		obsoletes:         make(map[uint64]segment.Bitmap),
 		internal:          internalOps,
 		applied:           make(chan error),
 		persistedCallback: persistedCallback,
diff --git a/index/scorch/segment_plugin.go b/index/scorch/segment_plugin.go
index ea40911fa..6272edf72 100644
--- a/index/scorch/segment_plugin.go
+++ b/index/scorch/segment_plugin.go
@@ -16,9 +16,8 @@ package scorch
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"github.com/RoaringBitmap/roaring"
-	index "github.com/blevesearch/bleve_index_api"
 
+	index "github.com/blevesearch/bleve_index_api"
 	segment "github.com/blevesearch/scorch_segment_api/v2"
 
 	zapv11 "github.com/blevesearch/zapx/v11"
@@ -61,9 +60,12 @@ type SegmentPlugin interface {
 	// document number in the newly merged segment.
 	// The number of bytes written to the new segment file.
 	// An error, if any occurred.
-	Merge(segments []segment.Segment, drops []*roaring.Bitmap, path string,
+	Merge(segments []segment.Segment, drops []segment.Bitmap, path string,
 		closeCh chan struct{}, s segment.StatsReporter) (
 		[][]uint64, uint64, error)
+
+	// NewBitmap returns a new empty Bitmap compatible with this implementation
+	NewBitmap() segment.Bitmap
 }
 
 var supportedSegmentPlugins map[string]map[uint32]SegmentPlugin
diff --git a/index/scorch/snapshot_index.go b/index/scorch/snapshot_index.go
index ac2f34412..da0d3d800 100644
--- a/index/scorch/snapshot_index.go
+++ b/index/scorch/snapshot_index.go
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 
-	"github.com/RoaringBitmap/roaring"
 	"github.com/blevesearch/bleve/v2/document"
 	index "github.com/blevesearch/bleve_index_api"
 	segment "github.com/blevesearch/scorch_segment_api/v2"
@@ -39,7 +38,7 @@ type asynchSegmentResult struct {
 	dictItr segment.DictionaryIterator
 
 	index int
-	docs  *roaring.Bitmap
+	docs  segment.Bitmap
 
 	postings segment.PostingsList
 
@@ -302,7 +301,7 @@ func (i *IndexSnapshot) DocIDReaderAll() (index.DocIDReader, error) {
 		go func(index int, segment *SegmentSnapshot) {
 			results <- &asynchSegmentResult{
 				index: index,
-				docs:  segment.DocNumbersLive(),
+				docs:  segment.DocNumbersLive(i.parent.segPlugin.NewBitmap()),
 			}
 		}(index, segment)
 	}
@@ -332,7 +331,7 @@ func (i *IndexSnapshot) DocIDReaderOnly(ids []string) (index.DocIDReader, error)
 func (i *IndexSnapshot) newDocIDReader(results chan *asynchSegmentResult) (index.DocIDReader, error) {
 	rv := &IndexSnapshotDocIDReader{
 		snapshot:  i,
-		iterators: make([]roaring.IntIterable, len(i.segment)),
+		iterators: make([]segment.IntIterable, len(i.segment)),
 	}
 	var err error
 	for count := 0; count < len(i.segment); count++ {
@@ -557,7 +556,7 @@ func (i *IndexSnapshot) recycleTermFieldReader(tfr *IndexSnapshotTermFieldReader
 	if !tfr.recycle {
 		// Do not recycle an optimized unadorned term field reader (used for
 		// ConjunctionUnadorned or DisjunctionUnadorned), during when a fresh
-		// roaring.Bitmap is built by AND-ing or OR-ing individual bitmaps,
+		// segment.Bitmap is built by AND-ing or OR-ing individual bitmaps,
 		// and we'll need to release them for GC. (See MB-40916)
 		return
 	}
diff --git a/index/scorch/snapshot_index_doc.go b/index/scorch/snapshot_index_doc.go
index fe174e7e3..89ddc74b3 100644
--- a/index/scorch/snapshot_index_doc.go
+++ b/index/scorch/snapshot_index_doc.go
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ package scorch
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	segment "github.com/blevesearch/scorch_segment_api/v2"
 	"reflect"
 
-	"github.com/RoaringBitmap/roaring"
 	"github.com/blevesearch/bleve/v2/size"
 	index "github.com/blevesearch/bleve_index_api"
 )
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func init() {
 
 type IndexSnapshotDocIDReader struct {
 	snapshot      *IndexSnapshot
-	iterators     []roaring.IntIterable
+	iterators     []segment.IntIterable
 	segmentOffset int
 }
 
diff --git a/index/scorch/snapshot_segment.go b/index/scorch/snapshot_segment.go
index e017eb2a9..4ba6e6ecd 100644
--- a/index/scorch/snapshot_segment.go
+++ b/index/scorch/snapshot_segment.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 
-	"github.com/RoaringBitmap/roaring"
 	"github.com/blevesearch/bleve/v2/size"
 	index "github.com/blevesearch/bleve_index_api"
 	segment "github.com/blevesearch/scorch_segment_api/v2"
@@ -32,7 +31,7 @@ var TermSeparatorSplitSlice = []byte{TermSeparator}
 type SegmentSnapshot struct {
 	id      uint64
 	segment segment.Segment
-	deleted *roaring.Bitmap
+	deleted segment.Bitmap
 	creator string
 
 	cachedDocs *cachedDocs
@@ -42,7 +41,7 @@ func (s *SegmentSnapshot) Segment() segment.Segment {
 	return s.segment
 }
 
-func (s *SegmentSnapshot) Deleted() *roaring.Bitmap {
+func (s *SegmentSnapshot) Deleted() segment.Bitmap {
 	return s.deleted
 }
 
@@ -78,7 +77,7 @@ func (s *SegmentSnapshot) Count() uint64 {
 	return rv
 }
 
-func (s *SegmentSnapshot) DocNumbers(docIDs []string) (*roaring.Bitmap, error) {
+func (s *SegmentSnapshot) DocNumbers(docIDs []string) (segment.Bitmap, error) {
 	rv, err := s.segment.DocNumbers(docIDs)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -90,8 +89,7 @@ func (s *SegmentSnapshot) DocNumbers(docIDs []string) (*roaring.Bitmap, error) {
 }
 
 // DocNumbersLive returns a bitmap containing doc numbers for all live docs
-func (s *SegmentSnapshot) DocNumbersLive() *roaring.Bitmap {
-	rv := roaring.NewBitmap()
+func (s *SegmentSnapshot) DocNumbersLive(rv segment.Bitmap) segment.Bitmap {
 	rv.AddRange(0, s.segment.Count())
 	if s.deleted != nil {
 		rv.AndNot(s.deleted)
diff --git a/index/scorch/unadorned.go b/index/scorch/unadorned.go
index 855b81361..c71142482 100644
--- a/index/scorch/unadorned.go
+++ b/index/scorch/unadorned.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package scorch
 
 import (
-	"github.com/RoaringBitmap/roaring"
 	segment "github.com/blevesearch/scorch_segment_api/v2"
 	"math"
 	"reflect"
@@ -35,8 +34,8 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 type unadornedPostingsIteratorBitmap struct {
-	actual   roaring.IntPeekable
-	actualBM *roaring.Bitmap
+	actual   segment.IntPeekable
+	actualBM segment.Bitmap
 }
 
 func (i *unadornedPostingsIteratorBitmap) Next() (segment.Posting, error) {
@@ -72,7 +71,12 @@ func (i *unadornedPostingsIteratorBitmap) Size() int {
 	return reflectStaticSizeUnadornedPostingsIteratorBitmap
 }
 
-func (i *unadornedPostingsIteratorBitmap) ActualBitmap() *roaring.Bitmap {
+func (i *unadornedPostingsIteratorBitmap) ActualBitmap() segment.Bitmap {
+	if i.actualBM == nil {
+		// NOTE: this returns nil segment.Bitmap as opposed to a nil *bitmap
+		// allowing downstream == nil checks to work as expected
+		return nil
+	}
 	return i.actualBM
 }
 
@@ -80,12 +84,12 @@ func (i *unadornedPostingsIteratorBitmap) DocNum1Hit() (uint64, bool) {
 	return 0, false
 }
 
-func (i *unadornedPostingsIteratorBitmap) ReplaceActual(actual *roaring.Bitmap) {
+func (i *unadornedPostingsIteratorBitmap) ReplaceActual(actual segment.Bitmap) {
 	i.actualBM = actual
 	i.actual = actual.Iterator()
 }
 
-func newUnadornedPostingsIteratorFromBitmap(bm *roaring.Bitmap) segment.PostingsIterator {
+func newUnadornedPostingsIteratorFromBitmap(bm segment.Bitmap) segment.PostingsIterator {
 	return &unadornedPostingsIteratorBitmap{
 		actualBM: bm,
 		actual:   bm.Iterator(),