diff --git a/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/search/SearchIndex.groovy b/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/search/SearchIndex.groovy
index 76e734a9..61db4291 100644
--- a/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/search/SearchIndex.groovy
+++ b/core/src/main/groovy/com/muwire/core/search/SearchIndex.groovy
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ class SearchIndex {
 	private static String[] split(String source) {
 		source = source.replaceAll(Constants.SPLIT_PATTERN, " ").toLowerCase()
 		source.split(" ")
+        def rv = []
+        source.each { if (it.length() > 0) rv << it }
+        rv.toArray(new String[0])
 	}
 	
 	String[] search(List<String> terms) {