diff --git a/lib/Net/LDAP3.php b/lib/Net/LDAP3.php
index 8d908a61697d45d1e87c9d006928d534444ed770..a9f196c7ccf0bc1c462b2bcb4d0f74f51f9b8428 100644
--- a/lib/Net/LDAP3.php
+++ b/lib/Net/LDAP3.php
@@ -1677,7 +1677,7 @@ class Net_LDAP3
             }
 
             $controls = $this->_vlv_set_controls($sort, $this->list_page, $this->page_size,
-                $this->_vlv_search($sort, $props['search']));
+                $this->_vlv_search($sort, $props['search'] ?? null));
 
             $this->vlv_active = (bool) $controls;
         }
@@ -1776,7 +1776,7 @@ class Net_LDAP3
     {
         $this->_debug("Net_LDAP3::search_entries with search " . var_export($props, true));
 
-        if (is_array($props['search']) && array_key_exists('params', $props['search'])) {
+        if (!empty($props['search']) && is_array($props['search']) && array_key_exists('params', $props['search'])) {
             $_search = $this->search_filter($props['search']);
             $this->_debug("C: Search filter: $_search");