diff --git a/app/javascript/Search/Search.jsx b/app/javascript/Search/Search.jsx
index ba2e77ffd..64a82d5fe 100644
--- a/app/javascript/Search/Search.jsx
+++ b/app/javascript/Search/Search.jsx
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ export class Search extends Component {
   constructor(props) {
     super(props);
     this.enableSearchPageChecker = true;
+    this.syncSearchUrlWithInput = this.syncSearchUrlWithInput.bind(this);
   }
 
   componentWillMount() {
@@ -48,9 +49,33 @@ export class Search extends Component {
     searchPageChecker();
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Synchronizes the search input value with the search term defined in the URL.
+   */
+  syncSearchUrlWithInput() {
+    // TODO: Consolidate search functionality.
+    // Note that push states for search occur in _search.html.erb
+    // in initializeSortingTabs(query)
+    const { searchBoxId } = this.props;
+    const searchTerm = getInitialSearchTerm(window.location.search);
+
+    // We set the value outside of React state so that there is no flickering of placeholder
+    // to search term.
+    const searchBox = document.getElementById(searchBoxId);
+    searchBox.value = searchTerm;
+
+    // Even though we set the search term directly via the DOM, it still needs to reside
+    // in component state.
+    this.setState({
+      searchTerm,
+    });
+  }
+
   componentDidMount() {
     this.registerGlobalKeysListener();
     InstantClick.on('change', this.enableSearchPageListener);
+
+    window.addEventListener('popstate', this.syncSearchUrlWithInput);
   }
 
   enableSearchPageListener = () => {
@@ -81,8 +106,9 @@ export class Search extends Component {
     }
   }
 
-  componentDidUnmount() {
+  componentWillUnmount() {
     document.removeEventListener('keydown', this.globalKeysListener);
+    window.removeEventListener('popstate', this.syncSearchUrlWithInput);
     InstantClick.off('change', this.enableSearchPageListener);
   }
 
diff --git a/app/javascript/Search/__tests__/Search.test.jsx b/app/javascript/Search/__tests__/Search.test.jsx
index 3edf87eaa..09518194d 100644
--- a/app/javascript/Search/__tests__/Search.test.jsx
+++ b/app/javascript/Search/__tests__/Search.test.jsx
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ describe('<Search />', () => {
     global.filterXSS = jest.fn();
     global.InstantClick = jest.fn(() => ({
       on: jest.fn(),
+      off: jest.fn(),
       preload: jest.fn(),
       display: jest.fn(),
     }))();
@@ -78,4 +79,34 @@ describe('<Search />', () => {
     expect(searchInput.value).toEqual('hello');
     expect(Search.prototype.search).toHaveBeenCalledWith('Enter', 'hello');
   });
+
+  it('should be listening for history state changes', async () => {
+    // This is an implementation detail, but I want to make sure that this
+    // listener is registered as it affects the UI.
+    jest.spyOn(window, 'addEventListener');
+
+    render(<Search />);
+
+    expect(window.addEventListener).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(window.addEventListener).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'popstate',
+      expect.any(Function),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('should stop listening for history state changes when the component is destroyed', async () => {
+    // This is an implementation detail, but I want to make sure that this
+    // listener is unregistered as it affects the UI.
+    jest.spyOn(window, 'removeEventListener');
+
+    const { unmount } = render(<Search />);
+
+    unmount();
+
+    expect(window.removeEventListener).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(window.removeEventListener).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'popstate',
+      expect.any(Function),
+    );
+  });
 });
diff --git a/app/javascript/utilities/__tests__/search.test.js b/app/javascript/utilities/__tests__/search.test.js
index 827477098..b14f274c8 100644
--- a/app/javascript/utilities/__tests__/search.test.js
+++ b/app/javascript/utilities/__tests__/search.test.js
@@ -58,6 +58,15 @@ describe('Search utilities', () => {
         const actual = getInitialSearchTerm(querystring);
         expect(actual).toEqual(expected);
       });
+
+      it(`should return an empty string when the search term is not defined`, () => {
+        /* eslint-disable-next-line no-global-assign */
+        filterXSS = jest.fn(() => undefined);
+        const querystring = `?q=`;
+
+        const actual = getInitialSearchTerm(querystring);
+        expect(actual).toEqual('');
+      });
     });
 
     describe(`When the querystring key 'q' does not exist`, () => {
diff --git a/app/javascript/utilities/search/index.js b/app/javascript/utilities/search/index.js
index c16ba3ec7..ff873141e 100644
--- a/app/javascript/utilities/search/index.js
+++ b/app/javascript/utilities/search/index.js
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ export function getInitialSearchTerm(querystring) {
     matches !== null && matches.length === 2
       ? decodeURIComponent(matches[1].replace(/\+/g, '%20'))
       : '';
-  const query = filterXSS(rawSearchTerm);
+  const query = filterXSS(rawSearchTerm) || '';
   const divForDecode = document.createElement('div');
   divForDecode.innerHTML = query;
 
@@ -86,11 +86,10 @@ export function preloadSearchResults({
   const encodedQuery = fixedEncodeURIComponent(
     searchTerm.replace(/^[ ]+|[ ]+$/g, ''),
   );
-  InstantClick.preload(
-    `${location.origin}/search?q=${encodedQuery}${getFilterParameters(
-      location.href,
-    )}`,
-  );
+  const searchUrl = `${
+    location.origin
+  }/search?q=${encodedQuery}${getFilterParameters(location.href)}`;
+  InstantClick.preload(searchUrl);
 }
 
 export function createSearchUrl(dataHash) {