diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index 8e0f18040..aeec196d9 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -185,6 +185,9 @@ class User < ApplicationRecord
   # => https://stackoverflow.com/a/11007216/4186181
   #
   scope :search_by_name_and_username, lambda { |term|
+    term = term&.delete("\\") # prevents syntax error in tsquery
+    return none if term.blank?
+
     where(
       sanitize_sql_array(
         [
diff --git a/spec/services/search/username_spec.rb b/spec/services/search/username_spec.rb
index 0940d2a21..8ea430574 100644
--- a/spec/services/search/username_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/search/username_spec.rb
@@ -80,5 +80,9 @@ RSpec.describe Search::Username, type: :service do
       expect(results.size).to eq(max_results)
       expect([alex.username, alexsmith.username]).to include(results.first[:username])
     end
+
+    it "sanitizes the input when given slashes" do
+      expect(described_class.search_documents("\\")).to eq([])
+    end
   end
 end