diff --git a/lib/content-services/src/lib/content-node-selector/content-node-selector-panel.component.spec.ts b/lib/content-services/src/lib/content-node-selector/content-node-selector-panel.component.spec.ts
index bea949854a..3c90d74ae9 100644
--- a/lib/content-services/src/lib/content-node-selector/content-node-selector-panel.component.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/content-services/src/lib/content-node-selector/content-node-selector-panel.component.spec.ts
@@ -243,7 +243,8 @@ describe('ContentNodeSelectorPanelComponent', () => {
             });
 
             it('should not show the breadcrumb if search was performed as last action', async () => {
-                component.searchTerm = 'mock-search-term';
+                searchQueryBuilderService.userQuery = 'mock-search-term';
+                searchQueryBuilderService.update();
                 triggerSearchResults(fakeResultSetPaging);
 
                 fixture.detectChanges();
@@ -264,7 +265,8 @@ describe('ContentNodeSelectorPanelComponent', () => {
             });
 
             it('should show the breadcrumb for the selected node when search results are displayed', async () => {
-                component.searchTerm = 'mock-search-term';
+                searchQueryBuilderService.userQuery = 'mock-search-term';
+                searchQueryBuilderService.update();
                 triggerSearchResults(fakeResultSetPaging);
 
                 const chosenNode = new Node({ path: { elements: ['one'] } });
@@ -644,7 +646,8 @@ describe('ContentNodeSelectorPanelComponent', () => {
             }));
 
             it('should emit showingSearch event with true while searching', async () => {
-                component.searchTerm = 'mock-search-term';
+                searchQueryBuilderService.userQuery = 'mock-search-term';
+                searchQueryBuilderService.update();
                 spyOn(customResourcesService, 'hasCorrespondingNodeIds').and.returnValue(true);
                 const showingSearchSpy = spyOn(component.showingSearch, 'emit');
 
@@ -688,7 +691,8 @@ describe('ContentNodeSelectorPanelComponent', () => {
             });
 
             it('should emit showingResults event with false if search api fails', async () => {
-                component.searchTerm = 'mock-search-term';
+                searchQueryBuilderService.userQuery = 'mock-search-term';
+                searchQueryBuilderService.update();
                 getCorrespondingNodeIdsSpy.and.throwError('Failed');
                 const showingSearchSpy = spyOn(component.showingSearch, 'emit');
                 component.queryBuilderService.execute({ query: { query: 'search' } });
@@ -852,18 +856,21 @@ describe('ContentNodeSelectorPanelComponent', () => {
                     fixture.detectChanges();
                     const documentList = fixture.debugElement.query(By.css('[data-automation-id="content-node-selector-document-list"]'));
                     expect(documentList).not.toBeNull('Document list should be shown');
+                    expect(component.hasValidQuery).toEqual(true);
                     expect(documentList.componentInstance.currentFolderId).toBeNull();
                     done();
                 }, 300);
             });
 
             it('should not show the result list when results are returned but there is no search term typed', (done) => {
-                component.searchTerm = '';
+                searchQueryBuilderService.userQuery = '';
+                searchQueryBuilderService.update();
 
                 setTimeout(() => {
                     triggerSearchResults(fakeResultSetPaging);
                     fixture.detectChanges();
 
+                    expect(component.hasValidQuery).toEqual(false);
                     expect(component.showingSearchResults).toEqual(false);
                     done();
                 }, 300);
diff --git a/lib/content-services/src/lib/content-node-selector/content-node-selector-panel.component.ts b/lib/content-services/src/lib/content-node-selector/content-node-selector-panel.component.ts
index bc480fe2f6..18e33ef8df 100644
--- a/lib/content-services/src/lib/content-node-selector/content-node-selector-panel.component.ts
+++ b/lib/content-services/src/lib/content-node-selector/content-node-selector-panel.component.ts
@@ -242,6 +242,7 @@ export class ContentNodeSelectorPanelComponent implements OnInit, OnDestroy {
     folderIdToShow: string | null = null;
     breadcrumbFolderTitle: string | null = null;
     startSiteGuid: string | null = null;
+    hasValidQuery: boolean = false;
 
     @ViewChild(InfinitePaginationComponent, { static: true })
     infinitePaginationComponent: InfinitePaginationComponent;
@@ -293,9 +294,11 @@ export class ContentNodeSelectorPanelComponent implements OnInit, OnDestroy {
             .pipe(takeUntil(this.onDestroy$))
             .subscribe((queryBody: QueryBody) => {
                 if (queryBody) {
+                    this.hasValidQuery = true;
                     this.prepareDialogForNewSearch(queryBody);
                     this.queryBuilderService.execute(queryBody);
                 } else {
+                    this.hasValidQuery = false;
                     this.resetFolderToShow();
                     this.clearSearch();
                 }
@@ -303,8 +306,8 @@ export class ContentNodeSelectorPanelComponent implements OnInit, OnDestroy {
 
         this.queryBuilderService.executed
             .pipe(takeUntil(this.onDestroy$))
-            .subscribe( (results: NodePaging) => {
-                if (this.searchTerm) {
+            .subscribe((results: NodePaging) => {
+                if (this.hasValidQuery) {
                     this.showSearchResults(results);
                 }
             });