diff --git a/backend/src/Controllers/SearchController.cs b/backend/src/Controllers/SearchController.cs
index 201ded1..3dc3075 100644
--- a/backend/src/Controllers/SearchController.cs
+++ b/backend/src/Controllers/SearchController.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 using JellyGlass.Services;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
+using System.Web;
 
 namespace JellyGlass.Controllers;
 
@@ -19,7 +20,8 @@ public class SearchController : ControllerBase
 	[HttpGet]
 	public async Task<IActionResult> handleSearch([FromQuery] string searchTerm, string serverId)
 	{
-		var results = await _service.Search(searchTerm, serverId);
+		var decodedSearchTerm = HttpUtility.UrlDecode(searchTerm);
+		var results = await _service.Search(decodedSearchTerm, serverId);
 
 		return Ok(results);
 	}
diff --git a/frontend/src/Components/ServerList/ServerList.tsx b/frontend/src/Components/ServerList/ServerList.tsx
index 4d46f88..87e82b4 100644
--- a/frontend/src/Components/ServerList/ServerList.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/Components/ServerList/ServerList.tsx
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ const ServerList = () => {
   useEffect(() => {
     getServerList().then(serverList => {
       setServers(serverList);
+    }).catch(err => {
+      setServers([]);
+      alert(err);
     })
   }, []);
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/Lib/Search.ts b/frontend/src/Lib/Search.ts
index c18b01d..a482286 100644
--- a/frontend/src/Lib/Search.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/Lib/Search.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ export interface SearchResult {
 }
 
 export const search = async (searchTerm: string, serverId: string): Promise<Array<SearchResult>> => {
-  const response = await axios.get<Array<SearchResult>>(`${apiUrl}/search?searchTerm=${searchTerm}&serverId=${serverId}`);
+  const response = await axios.get<Array<SearchResult>>(encodeURI(`${apiUrl}/search?searchTerm=${searchTerm}&serverId=${serverId}`));
 
   return response.data;
 }