diff --git a/app/query.py b/app/query.py
index cafe1067..9994320c 100644
--- a/app/query.py
+++ b/app/query.py
@@ -225,7 +225,12 @@ def build_search_query(
     :param sort_by: sorting key, defaults to None (=relevance-based sorting)
     :return: the built Query
     """
-    filter_query, remaining_terms = parse_lucene_dsl_query(q, filter_query_builder)
+    if q is None:
+        filter_query = []
+        remaining_terms = ""
+    else:
+        filter_query, remaining_terms = parse_lucene_dsl_query(q, filter_query_builder)
+
     logger.debug("filter query: %s", filter_query)
     logger.debug("remaining terms: '%s'", remaining_terms)
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/data/empty_query_with_sort_by.json b/tests/unit/data/empty_query_with_sort_by.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fd15ab84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/data/empty_query_with_sort_by.json
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+{
+  "aggs": {
+    "brands_tags": {
+      "terms": {
+        "field": "brands_tags"
+      }
+    },
+    "lang": {
+      "terms": {
+        "field": "lang"
+      }
+    },
+    "owner": {
+      "terms": {
+        "field": "owner"
+      }
+    },
+    "categories_tags": {
+      "terms": {
+        "field": "categories_tags"
+      }
+    },
+    "labels_tags": {
+      "terms": {
+        "field": "labels_tags"
+      }
+    },
+    "countries_tags": {
+      "terms": {
+        "field": "countries_tags"
+      }
+    },
+    "states_tags": {
+      "terms": {
+        "field": "states_tags"
+      }
+    },
+    "nutrition_grades": {
+      "terms": {
+        "field": "nutrition_grades"
+      }
+    },
+    "ecoscore_grade": {
+      "terms": {
+        "field": "ecoscore_grade"
+      }
+    },
+    "nova_groups": {
+      "terms": {
+        "field": "nova_groups"
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  "sort": [
+    "unique_scans_n"
+  ],
+  "size": 25,
+  "from": 25
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_query.py b/tests/unit/test_query.py
index 8dc4d9ac..4e0f6687 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_query.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_query.py
@@ -140,6 +140,14 @@ def test_parse_lucene_dsl_query(
             2,
             None,
         ),
+        (
+            "empty_query_with_sort_by",
+            None,
+            {"en"},
+            25,
+            2,
+            "unique_scans_n",
+        ),
     ],
 )
 def test_build_search_query(