diff --git a/routes.js b/routes.js
index 10aff1d..e0ce46e 100644
--- a/routes.js
+++ b/routes.js
@@ -719,6 +719,21 @@ module.exports = (app, redis, fetch, RedditAPI) => {
   app.get('/r/:subreddit/search', (req, res, next) => {
     let subreddit = req.params.subreddit
     let q = req.query.q
+
+    if (typeof q === "undefined") {
+      return res.render('search', {
+        json: { posts: [] },
+        no_query: true,
+        q: '',
+        restrict_sr: undefined,
+        nsfw: undefined,
+        subreddit: subreddit,
+        sortby: undefined,
+        past: undefined,
+        user_preferences: req.cookies
+      })
+    }
+
     let restrict_sr = req.query.restrict_sr
     let nsfw = req.query.nsfw
     let sortby = req.query.sort
diff --git a/views/search.pug b/views/search.pug
index 447ced0..f5bdf12 100644
--- a/views/search.pug
+++ b/views/search.pug
@@ -15,13 +15,13 @@ html
             input(type="text", name="q", id="q", placeholder="search", value=""+ q +"")
         div
           label(for="restrict_sr") limit my search to r/#{subreddit}
-            if restrict_sr === 'on'
+            if !restrict_sr || restrict_sr === 'on'
               input(type="checkbox", name="restrict_sr", id="restrict_sr", checked="checked")
             else
               input(type="checkbox", name="restrict_sr", id="restrict_sr")
         div
           label(for="nsfw") include NSFW results
-            if nsfw === 'on'
+            if !nsfw || nsfw === 'on'
               input(type="checkbox", name="nsfw", id="nsfw", checked="checked")
             else
               input(type="checkbox", name="nsfw", id="nsfw")