diff --git a/cmd/helm/search.go b/cmd/helm/search.go
index d7fb2482f..1532dc0e5 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/search.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/search.go
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ func (s *searchCmd) run(args []string) error {
 	q := strings.Join(args, " ")
 	res, err := index.Search(q, searchMaxScore, s.regexp)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil
+		return err
 	}
 	search.SortScore(res)