diff --git a/application/controllers/Visitor.php b/application/controllers/Visitor.php
index 999d3cd63..f28641353 100644
--- a/application/controllers/Visitor.php
+++ b/application/controllers/Visitor.php
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ class Visitor extends CI_Controller {
 	}
 
 	public function search() {
-		$callsign = $this->security->xss_clean($this->input->post('callsign'));
+		$callsign = trim($this->security->xss_clean($this->input->post('callsign')));
 		$public_slug = $this->security->xss_clean($this->input->post('public_slug'));
 		$this->load->model('publicsearch');
 		$data['page_title'] = "Public Search";
diff --git a/application/views/visitor/layout/footer.php b/application/views/visitor/layout/footer.php
index c5a01fbc7..d51f5bba2 100644
--- a/application/views/visitor/layout/footer.php
+++ b/application/views/visitor/layout/footer.php
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@
             });
             function validateForm() {
                 let x = document.forms["searchForm"]["callsign"].value;
-                if (x == "") {
+                if (x.trim() == "") {
                     $('#searchcall').tooltip('show')
                     return false;
                 }