diff --git a/plugin.rb b/plugin.rb
index 30fa9a9..9f412fa 100644
--- a/plugin.rb
+++ b/plugin.rb
@@ -888,11 +888,11 @@ after_initialize do
   end
 
   add_filter_custom_filter("assigned") do |scope, filter_values, guardian|
-    return if !guardian.can_assign? || filter_values.blank?
+    next if !guardian.can_assign? || filter_values.blank?
 
     user_or_group_name = filter_values.compact.first
 
-    return if user_or_group_name.blank?
+    next if user_or_group_name.blank?
 
     if user_id = User.find_by_username(user_or_group_name)&.id
       scope.where(<<~SQL, user_id)
@@ -906,19 +906,19 @@ after_initialize do
   end
 
   register_search_advanced_filter(/in:assigned/) do |posts|
-    return if !@guardian.can_assign?
+    next if !@guardian.can_assign?
 
     posts.where("topics.id IN (SELECT a.topic_id FROM assignments a WHERE a.active)")
   end
 
   register_search_advanced_filter(/in:unassigned/) do |posts|
-    return if !@guardian.can_assign?
+    next if !@guardian.can_assign?
 
     posts.where("topics.id NOT IN (SELECT a.topic_id FROM assignments a WHERE a.active)")
   end
 
   register_search_advanced_filter(/assigned:(.+)$/) do |posts, match|
-    return if !@guardian.can_assign? || match.blank?
+    next if !@guardian.can_assign? || match.blank?
 
     if user_id = User.find_by_username(match)&.id
       posts.where(<<~SQL, user_id)
diff --git a/spec/requests/list_controller_spec.rb b/spec/requests/list_controller_spec.rb
index d09ba19..10bb7ed 100644
--- a/spec/requests/list_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/list_controller_spec.rb
@@ -369,28 +369,47 @@ describe ListController do
     fab!(:post_2) { Fabricate(:post, topic: topic_2) }
     fab!(:post_3) { Fabricate(:post, topic: topic_3) }
 
-    before do
-      sign_in(admin)
+    describe "when user cannot assign" do
+      it "ignores the assign filter" do
+        add_to_assign_allowed_group(user)
+
+        Assigner.new(topic_1, user).assign(user)
+
+        get "/filter", params: { q: "assigned:#{user.username_lower}", format: :json }
+
+        expect(response.status).to eq(200)
+        expect(
+          response.parsed_body.dig("topic_list", "topics").map { _1["id"] },
+        ).to contain_exactly(topic_1.id, topic_2.id, topic_3.id)
+      end
     end
 
-    it "filters topics by assigned user" do
-      add_to_assign_allowed_group(user)
+    describe "when user can assign" do
+      before { sign_in(admin) }
 
-      Assigner.new(topic_1, admin).assign(user)
+      it "filters topics by assigned user" do
+        add_to_assign_allowed_group(user)
 
-      get "/filter", params: { q: "assigned:#{user.username_lower}", format: :json }
+        Assigner.new(topic_1, admin).assign(user)
 
-      expect(response.status).to eq(200)
-      expect(response.parsed_body.dig("topic_list", "topics").map { _1["id"] }).to contain_exactly(topic_1.id)
-    end
+        get "/filter", params: { q: "assigned:#{user.username_lower}", format: :json }
 
-    it "filters topics by assigned group" do
-      Assigner.new(topic_2, admin).assign(group)
+        expect(response.status).to eq(200)
+        expect(
+          response.parsed_body.dig("topic_list", "topics").map { _1["id"] },
+        ).to contain_exactly(topic_1.id)
+      end
 
-      get "/filter", params: { q: "assigned:#{group.name}", format: :json }
+      it "filters topics by assigned group" do
+        Assigner.new(topic_2, admin).assign(group)
 
-      expect(response.status).to eq(200)
-      expect(response.parsed_body.dig("topic_list", "topics").map { _1["id"] }).to contain_exactly(topic_2.id)
+        get "/filter", params: { q: "assigned:#{group.name}", format: :json }
+
+        expect(response.status).to eq(200)
+        expect(
+          response.parsed_body.dig("topic_list", "topics").map { _1["id"] },
+        ).to contain_exactly(topic_2.id)
+      end
     end
   end
 end