diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/issuable.js.es6 b/app/assets/javascripts/issuable.js.es6
index 8c3c2d54c1a005734779a421f9df0bdaab0471fd..54056ac50c81f13b5164141041caf55a207bc6e1 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/issuable.js.es6
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/issuable.js.es6
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
     },
     maybeFocusOnSearch: function() {
       const currentSearchVal = Issuable.searchState.current;
-      if (currentSearchVal !== '') {
+      if (currentSearchVal && currentSearchVal !== '') {
         const queryLength = currentSearchVal.length;
         const $searchInput = Issuable.searchState.elem;