diff --git a/src/Searching.js b/src/Searching.js
index a5d945f64b..663328fe41 100644
--- a/src/Searching.js
+++ b/src/Searching.js
@@ -87,6 +87,13 @@ async function localSearch(searchTerm, roomId = undefined) {
         searchArgs.room_id = roomId;
     }
 
+    const emptyResult = {
+        results: [],
+        highlights: [],
+    };
+
+    if (searchTerm === "") return emptyResult;
+
     const eventIndex = EventIndexPeg.get();
 
     const localResult = await eventIndex.search(searchArgs);
@@ -97,11 +104,6 @@ async function localSearch(searchTerm, roomId = undefined) {
         },
     };
 
-    const emptyResult = {
-        results: [],
-        highlights: [],
-    };
-
     const result = MatrixClientPeg.get()._processRoomEventsSearch(
         emptyResult, response);