diff --git a/src/search.c b/src/search.c
index abc28619199..c9c6dfdd242 100644
--- a/src/search.c
+++ b/src/search.c
@@ -2095,7 +2095,7 @@ wordify (string)
   if (SYNTAX (prev_c) == Sword)
     word_count++;
   if (!word_count)
-    return empty_string;
+    return empty_unibyte_string;
 
   adjust = - punct_count + 5 * (word_count - 1) + 4;
   if (STRING_MULTIBYTE (string))