diff --git a/C4/Search.pm b/C4/Search.pm
index e2de36571e..248856e42b 100644
--- a/C4/Search.pm
+++ b/C4/Search.pm
@@ -1694,7 +1694,7 @@ sub searchResults {
         $times = $offset + $results_per_page;
     }
     else {
-        $times = $hits; # If less hits than results_per_page+offset we go to the end
+        $times = $hits // 0; # If less hits than results_per_page+offset we go to the end
     }
 
     my $marcflavour = C4::Context->preference("marcflavour");
diff --git a/opac/opac-search.pl b/opac/opac-search.pl
index ae864ee30c..16b69332ff 100755
--- a/opac/opac-search.pl
+++ b/opac/opac-search.pl
@@ -608,7 +608,7 @@ for my $plugin_variables ( @plugin_responses ) {
 for (my $i=0;$i<@servers;$i++) {
     my $server = $servers[$i];
     if ($server && $server =~/biblioserver/) { # this is the local bibliographic server
-        $hits = $results_hashref->{$server}->{"hits"};
+        $hits = $results_hashref->{$server}->{"hits"} // 0;
         if ( $hits == 0 && $basic_search ){
             $operands[0] = '"'.$operands[0].'"'; #quote it
             ## I. BUILD THE QUERY