diff --git a/_config.yml b/_config.yml
index f02ba5128cc..c676148a508 100755
--- a/_config.yml
+++ b/_config.yml
@@ -23,8 +23,10 @@ twitter_username: quarkusio
 github_username:  quarkusio
 github_fork_url: "https://github.com/quarkusio/quarkus"
 search:
-  # The minimum number of characters before we rely on remote search
-  # Below this, we rely on Javascript search
+  # The minimum number of characters before we run a full search.
+  # Below this:
+  # - if another filter is selected (e.g. categories), we run Javascript search
+  # - otherwise, we don't run search and just display all guides
   min-chars: 2
   # The URL of the remote search service
   url: "https://search.quarkus.io/"
diff --git a/assets/javascript/guides-app.js b/assets/javascript/guides-app.js
index 42218e23a0f..27ce5c6bc8b 100644
--- a/assets/javascript/guides-app.js
+++ b/assets/javascript/guides-app.js
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ const app = createApp({
       }
     },
     hasInput() {
-      return this.search.input.q || this.search.input.categories
+      return this.search.input.q && this.search.input.q.length >= this.minChars || this.search.input.categories
     },
     hasInputWithTooFewChars() {
       return this.search.input.q && this.search.input.q.length < this.minChars