diff --git a/lib/App/Netdisco/Web/Plugin/Search/Node.pm b/lib/App/Netdisco/Web/Plugin/Search/Node.pm
index 0b4995e7..adfd00d4 100644
--- a/lib/App/Netdisco/Web/Plugin/Search/Node.pm
+++ b/lib/App/Netdisco/Web/Plugin/Search/Node.pm
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ register_search_tab({
 get '/ajax/content/search/node' => require_login sub {
     my $node = param('q');
     send_error('Missing node', 400) unless $node;
+    return unless ($node =~ m/\w/); # need some alphanum at least
     content_type('text/html');
 
     my $agenot = param('age_invert') || '0';
diff --git a/lib/App/Netdisco/Web/Plugin/Search/VLAN.pm b/lib/App/Netdisco/Web/Plugin/Search/VLAN.pm
index ac7f6aa4..1fa520b5 100644
--- a/lib/App/Netdisco/Web/Plugin/Search/VLAN.pm
+++ b/lib/App/Netdisco/Web/Plugin/Search/VLAN.pm
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ register_search_tab({
 get '/ajax/content/search/vlan' => require_login sub {
     my $q = param('q');
     send_error( 'Missing query', 400 ) unless $q;
+    return unless ($q =~ m/\w/); # need some alphanum at least
     my $rs;
 
     if ( $q =~ m/^\d+$/ ) {