diff --git a/js/ui/search.js b/js/ui/search.js
index 7998a9bc4..5798a4e91 100644
--- a/js/ui/search.js
+++ b/js/ui/search.js
@@ -482,8 +482,8 @@ const SearchResults = new Lang.Class({
 
         if (!terms) {
             if (this._searchTimeoutId > 0) {
-                this._searchTimeoutId = 0;
                 GLib.source_remove(this._searchTimeoutId);
+                this._searchTimeoutId = 0;
             }
             return;
         }