diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/components/search-menu.js.es6 b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/components/search-menu.js.es6
index 8a4f2ddec..153929ecd 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/components/search-menu.js.es6
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/components/search-menu.js.es6
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import {searchForTerm, searchContextDescription} from 'discourse/lib/search';
+import {searchForTerm, searchContextDescription, isValidSearchTerm } from 'discourse/lib/search';
 import DiscourseURL from 'discourse/lib/url';
 import { default as computed, observes } from 'ember-addons/ember-computed-decorators';
 import showModal from 'discourse/lib/show-modal';
@@ -61,8 +61,8 @@ export default Ember.Component.extend({
   @observes('searchService.term', 'typeFilter')
   newSearchNeeded() {
     this.set('noResults', false);
-    const term = (this.get('searchService.term') || '').trim();
-    if (term.length >= Discourse.SiteSettings.min_search_term_length) {
+    const term = this.get('searchService.term')
+    if (isValidSearchTerm(term)) {
       this.set('loading', true);
       Ember.run.debounce(this, 'searchTerm', term, this.get('typeFilter'), 400);
     } else {
@@ -154,8 +154,7 @@ export default Ember.Component.extend({
   },
 
   keyDown(e) {
-    const term = this.get('searchService.term');
-    if (e.which === 13 && term && term.length >= this.siteSettings.min_search_term_length) {
+    if (e.which === 13 && isValidSearchTerm(this.get('searchService.term'))) {
       this.set('visible', false);
       this.send('fullSearch');
     }
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/full-page-search.js.es6 b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/full-page-search.js.es6
index fce0fecd8..2e909601f 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/full-page-search.js.es6
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/full-page-search.js.es6
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { translateResults, searchContextDescription, getSearchKey } from "discourse/lib/search";
+import { translateResults, searchContextDescription, getSearchKey, isValidSearchTerm } from "discourse/lib/search";
 import showModal from 'discourse/lib/show-modal';
 import { default as computed, observes } from 'ember-addons/ember-computed-decorators';
 import Category from 'discourse/models/category';
@@ -37,7 +37,12 @@ export default Ember.Controller.extend({
 
   @computed('q')
   searchActive(q){
-    return q && q.length > 0;
+    return isValidSearchTerm(q);
+  },
+
+  @computed('searchTerm')
+  isNotValidSearchTerm(searchTerm) {
+    return !isValidSearchTerm(searchTerm);
   },
 
   @observes('model')
@@ -129,6 +134,7 @@ export default Ember.Controller.extend({
     },
 
     search() {
+      if (this.get("isNotValidSearchTerm")) return;
       this.search();
     }
   }
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/search.js.es6 b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/search.js.es6
index 21fd8afeb..9d7bec2d6 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/search.js.es6
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/search.js.es6
@@ -106,4 +106,12 @@ const getSearchKey = function(args){
                       ((args.searchContext && args.searchContext.id) || "")
 };
 
-export { searchForTerm, searchContextDescription, getSearchKey };
+const isValidSearchTerm = function(searchTerm) {
+  if (searchTerm) {
+    return searchTerm.trim().length >= Discourse.SiteSettings.min_search_term_length;
+  } else {
+    return false;
+  }
+};
+
+export { searchForTerm, searchContextDescription, getSearchKey, isValidSearchTerm };
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/routes/full-page-search.js.es6 b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/routes/full-page-search.js.es6
index 10072d99f..3464250a7 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/routes/full-page-search.js.es6
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/routes/full-page-search.js.es6
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { translateResults, getSearchKey } from "discourse/lib/search";
+import { translateResults, getSearchKey, isValidSearchTerm } from "discourse/lib/search";
 
 export default Discourse.Route.extend({
   queryParams: { q: {}, context_id: {}, context: {} },
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ export default Discourse.Route.extend({
     }
 
     return PreloadStore.getAndRemove("search", function() {
-      if (params.q && params.q.length > 2) {
+      if (isValidSearchTerm(params.q)) {
         return Discourse.ajax("/search", { data: args });
       } else {
         return null;
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/full-page-search.hbs b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/full-page-search.hbs
index db60849ff..43e3e835a 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/full-page-search.hbs
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/full-page-search.hbs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <div class="search row clearfix">
   {{input type="text" value=searchTerm class="input-xxlarge search no-blur" action="search"}}
-  {{d-button action="search" icon="search" class="btn-primary"}}
+  {{d-button action="search" icon="search" class="btn-primary" disabled=isNotValidSearchTerm}}
   {{#if canBulkSelect}}
     {{#if model.posts}}
       {{d-button icon="list" class="bulk-select" title="topics.bulk.toggle" action="toggleBulkSelect"}}