diff --git a/material/plugins/search/config.py b/material/plugins/search/config.py
index 682d9a9e0..f8618185b 100644
--- a/material/plugins/search/config.py
+++ b/material/plugins/search/config.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ class SearchConfig(Config):
     # Settings for search
     lang = Optional(LangOption())
     separator = Optional(Type(str))
-    pipeline = ListOfItems(Choice(pipeline), default = [])
+    pipeline = Optional(ListOfItems(Choice(pipeline)))
 
     # Settings for text segmentation (Chinese)
     jieba_dict = Optional(Type(str))
diff --git a/material/plugins/search/plugin.py b/material/plugins/search/plugin.py
index f043e2840..120e7e23d 100644
--- a/material/plugins/search/plugin.py
+++ b/material/plugins/search/plugin.py
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ class SearchPlugin(BasePlugin[SearchConfig]):
             )
 
         # Retrieve default value for pipeline
-        if not self.config.pipeline:
+        if self.config.pipeline is None:
             self.config.pipeline = list(filter(len, re.split(
                 r"\s*,\s*", self._translate(config, "search.config.pipeline")
             )))
diff --git a/src/plugins/search/config.py b/src/plugins/search/config.py
index 682d9a9e0..f8618185b 100644
--- a/src/plugins/search/config.py
+++ b/src/plugins/search/config.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ class SearchConfig(Config):
     # Settings for search
     lang = Optional(LangOption())
     separator = Optional(Type(str))
-    pipeline = ListOfItems(Choice(pipeline), default = [])
+    pipeline = Optional(ListOfItems(Choice(pipeline)))
 
     # Settings for text segmentation (Chinese)
     jieba_dict = Optional(Type(str))
diff --git a/src/plugins/search/plugin.py b/src/plugins/search/plugin.py
index f043e2840..120e7e23d 100644
--- a/src/plugins/search/plugin.py
+++ b/src/plugins/search/plugin.py
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ class SearchPlugin(BasePlugin[SearchConfig]):
             )
 
         # Retrieve default value for pipeline
-        if not self.config.pipeline:
+        if self.config.pipeline is None:
             self.config.pipeline = list(filter(len, re.split(
                 r"\s*,\s*", self._translate(config, "search.config.pipeline")
             )))