diff --git a/lib/modules/embeddings/semantic_search.rb b/lib/modules/embeddings/semantic_search.rb
index da31cd1a..0a2d5ae2 100644
--- a/lib/modules/embeddings/semantic_search.rb
+++ b/lib/modules/embeddings/semantic_search.rb
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ module DiscourseAi
         search = Search.new(query, { guardian: guardian })
         search_term = search.term
 
+        return [] if search_term.nil? || search_term.length < SiteSetting.min_search_term_length
+
         strategy = DiscourseAi::Embeddings::Strategies::Truncation.new
         vector_rep =
           DiscourseAi::Embeddings::VectorRepresentations::Base.current_representation(strategy)