diff --git a/femto.tal b/femto.tal
index 44507f4..fb815bd 100644
--- a/femto.tal
+++ b/femto.tal
@@ -739,6 +739,7 @@
 
 ( execute a search, using the given search string )
 @do-search ( -> )
+    ;tmp LDA ?{ !return } ( ensure non-empty search string )
     .cursor/row LDZ2 .searching/orig-row STZ2
     .cursor/col LDZ2 .searching/orig-col STZ2
     #0000 .searching/regex STZ2
@@ -759,6 +760,7 @@
 ( )
 ( TODO: handle invalid regular expressions that fail to compile )
 @do-regex-search ( -> )
+    ;tmp LDA ?{ !return } ( ensure non-empty search string )
     cur-pos DUP2 .searching/start STZ2 .searching/end STZ2
     .cursor/row LDZ2 .searching/orig-row STZ2
     .cursor/col LDZ2 .searching/orig-col STZ2