diff --git a/40-PicoSearch.php b/40-PicoSearch.php
index f1757d0..e53a53f 100644
--- a/40-PicoSearch.php
+++ b/40-PicoSearch.php
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ class PicoSearch extends AbstractPicoPlugin
     }
 
     public function isLowValueWord($word) {
-        return in_array(mb_strtolower($searchTerm), $this->getPluginConfig('low_value_words'));
+        return in_array(mb_strtolower($searchTerm), $this->getPluginConfig('low_value_words') ?: []);
     }
 
     public function onPageRendering(&$twig, &$twigVariables, &$templateName) {