diff --git a/src/groups.js b/src/groups.js
index 58170eeaa8..f62fda1f43 100644
--- a/src/groups.js
+++ b/src/groups.js
@@ -878,8 +878,8 @@ var async = require('async'),
 	};
 
 	Groups.search = function(query, options, callback) {
-		if (!query || !query.length) {
-			return callback(null, []);
+		if (!query) {
+			query = '';
 		}
 
 		async.waterfall([
diff --git a/src/socket.io/groups.js b/src/socket.io/groups.js
index 902041d6ec..e51c2f6062 100644
--- a/src/socket.io/groups.js
+++ b/src/socket.io/groups.js
@@ -127,11 +127,11 @@ SocketGroups.delete = function(socket, data, callback) {
 };
 
 SocketGroups.search = function(socket, data, callback) {
-	if (!data || !data.query) {
+	if (!data) {
 		return callback(null, []);
 	}
 
-	groups.search(data.query, data.options || {}, callback);
+	groups.search(data.query || '', data.options || {}, callback);
 };
 
 SocketGroups.cover = {};