diff --git a/lib/geocoder.rb b/lib/geocoder.rb
index 85295f2967d5552c781db1d132de681d5000a350..5005afd33e3bf378c3a0be6714613061d2ae59d1 100644
--- a/lib/geocoder.rb
+++ b/lib/geocoder.rb
@@ -213,6 +213,7 @@ module Geocoder
   # Returns array [lat,lon] if found, nil if not found or if network error.
   #
   def self.fetch_coordinates(query)
+    return nil if query.blank?
     return nil unless doc = self.search(query)
     
     # make sure search found a result