diff --git a/program/include/rcube_imap.php b/program/include/rcube_imap.php
index 765778a20..1617be3ad 100644
--- a/program/include/rcube_imap.php
+++ b/program/include/rcube_imap.php
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ class rcube_imap
    */
   function set_search_set($str=null, $msgs=null, $charset=null, $sort_field=null)
     {
-    if ($msgs == null)
+    if (is_array($str) && $msgs == null)
       list($str, $msgs, $charset, $sort_field) = $str;
     if ($msgs != null && !is_array($msgs))
       $msgs = split(',', $msgs);
@@ -923,12 +923,16 @@ class rcube_imap
    */
   function search($mbox_name='', $str=NULL, $charset=NULL, $sort_field=NULL)
     {
+    if (!$str)
+      return false;
+    
     $mailbox = $mbox_name ? $this->_mod_mailbox($mbox_name) : $this->mailbox;
 
     $results = $this->_search_index($mailbox, $str, $charset, $sort_field);
 
     // try search with ISO charset (should be supported by server)
-    if (empty($results) && !empty($charset) && $charset!='ISO-8859-1')
+    // only if UTF-8 search is not supported
+    if (empty($results) && !is_array($results) && !empty($charset) && $charset!='ISO-8859-1')
       {
 	// convert strings to ISO-8859-1
         if(preg_match_all('/\{([0-9]+)\}\r\n/', $str, $matches, PREG_OFFSET_CAPTURE))
diff --git a/program/lib/imap.inc b/program/lib/imap.inc
index 8cbb0e02b..8704e78f5 100644
--- a/program/lib/imap.inc
+++ b/program/lib/imap.inc
@@ -941,9 +941,11 @@ function iil_C_Sort(&$conn, $mailbox, $field, $add='', $is_uid=FALSE,
 		}
 	} while (!iil_StartsWith($line, 's ', true));
 	
-	if (empty($data)) {
-		$conn->error = $line;
-		return false;
+	$result_code = iil_ParseResult($line);
+	
+	if ($result_code != 0) {
+                $conn->error = 'iil_C_Sort: ' . $line . "\n";
+                return false;
 	}
 	
 	$out = explode(' ',$data);
@@ -2116,7 +2118,7 @@ function iil_C_Search(&$conn, $folder, $criteria) {
 				$messages = explode(' ', $str);
 			}
 		} while (!iil_StartsWith($line, 'srch1', true));
-		
+
 		$result_code = iil_ParseResult($line);
 		if ($result_code == 0) {
 		    return $messages;
diff --git a/program/steps/mail/search.inc b/program/steps/mail/search.inc
index 18335ba15..0fc56bcf0 100644
--- a/program/steps/mail/search.inc
+++ b/program/steps/mail/search.inc
@@ -85,40 +85,36 @@ else if ($subject) {
 $search_str = trim($search_str);
 
 // execute IMAP search
-$result = $IMAP->search($mbox, $search_str, $imap_charset, $_SESSION['sort_col']);
-$count = 0;
+if ($search_str)
+  $result = $IMAP->search($mbox, $search_str, $imap_charset, $_SESSION['sort_col']);
 
-// Make sure our $result is legit..
-if (is_array($result) && $result[0] != '')
-{
-  // Get the headers
-  $result_h = $IMAP->list_headers($mbox, 1, $_SESSION['sort_col'], $_SESSION['sort_order']);
-  $count = $IMAP->messagecount();
+// Get the headers
+$result_h = $IMAP->list_headers($mbox, 1, $_SESSION['sort_col'], $_SESSION['sort_order']);
+$count = $IMAP->messagecount();
 
-  // save search results in session
-  if (!is_array($_SESSION['search']))
-    $_SESSION['search'] = array();
+// save search results in session
+if (!is_array($_SESSION['search']))
+  $_SESSION['search'] = array();
 
-  // Make sure we got the headers
-  if ($result_h != NULL)
-  {
+// Make sure we got the headers
+if (!empty($result_h))
+{
+  if ($search_str) {
     $_SESSION['search'][$search_request] = $IMAP->get_search_set();
     $_SESSION['last_text_search'] = $str;
-    rcmail_js_message_list($result_h);
-    $OUTPUT->show_message('searchsuccessful', 'confirmation', array('nr' => $count));
   }
+  rcmail_js_message_list($result_h);
+  $OUTPUT->show_message('searchsuccessful', 'confirmation', array('nr' => $count));
 }
 else
 {
   $OUTPUT->show_message('searchnomatch', 'notice');
-  $search_request = -1;
 }
 
 // update message count display
-$pages = ceil($count/$IMAP->page_size);
-$OUTPUT->set_env('search_request', $search_request);
+$OUTPUT->set_env('search_request', $search_str ? $search_request : -1);
 $OUTPUT->set_env('messagecount', $count);
-$OUTPUT->set_env('pagecount', $pages);
+$OUTPUT->set_env('pagecount', ceil($count/$IMAP->page_size));
 $OUTPUT->command('set_rowcount', rcmail_get_messagecount_text($count, 1));
 $OUTPUT->send();