diff --git a/templates/index.html.ep b/templates/index.html.ep
index 709b99c..7a899b5 100644
--- a/templates/index.html.ep
+++ b/templates/index.html.ep
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
          % my $urlprefix = url_with->query([word=>'']);
          var paraResults = <%= b(Mojo::JSON::to_json($lists)) %>;
          var urlprefix =  new URLSearchParams(window.location.search);
-         if (paraResults.length > 0) {
+         if (paraResults.length > 0  && paraResults[0] != null) {
              var nvecs = [],
                  nwords = [],
                  nranks = [],