diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/com/arcbees/chosen/client/ChosenOptions.java b/plugin/src/main/java/com/arcbees/chosen/client/ChosenOptions.java
index e7d66a9..b49581f 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/com/arcbees/chosen/client/ChosenOptions.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/com/arcbees/chosen/client/ChosenOptions.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ public class ChosenOptions {
     private boolean searchContains;
     private boolean singleBackstrokeDelete;
     private boolean highlightSearchTerm;
+    private boolean performSearchIfEmptyText;
     private ResultsFilter resultFilter;
     private DropdownPosition dropdownPosition;
     private Element dropdownBoundaries;
@@ -266,6 +267,15 @@ public boolean isSingleBackstrokeDelete() {
         return singleBackstrokeDelete;
     }
 
+    public ChosenOptions setPerformSearchIfEmptyText(boolean performSearchIfEmptyText) {
+        this.performSearchIfEmptyText = performSearchIfEmptyText;
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    public boolean isPerformSearchIfEmptyText() {
+        return performSearchIfEmptyText;
+    }
+
     public ChosenOptions setSingleBackstrokeDelete(boolean singleBackstrokeDelete) {
         this.singleBackstrokeDelete = singleBackstrokeDelete;
         return this;
@@ -297,6 +307,7 @@ private void setDefault() {
         maxSelectedOptions = -1;
         highlightSearchTerm = true;
         dropdownPosition = DropdownPosition.BELOW;
+        performSearchIfEmptyText = true;
         mobileViewportMaxWidth = 649;
         oneSelectedTextMultipleMobile = "{} item selected";
         manySelectedTextMultipleMobile = "{} items selected";
diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/com/arcbees/chosen/client/ClientResultsFilter.java b/plugin/src/main/java/com/arcbees/chosen/client/ClientResultsFilter.java
index 5f41f78..7d152d0 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/com/arcbees/chosen/client/ClientResultsFilter.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/com/arcbees/chosen/client/ClientResultsFilter.java
@@ -40,6 +40,11 @@ public void filter(String searchText, ChosenImpl chosen, boolean isShowing) {
         RegExp regex = RegExp.compile(regexAnchor + escapedSearchText, "i");
         RegExp zregex = RegExp.compile("(" + escapedSearchText + ")", "i");
 
+        boolean performSearch = true;
+        if (!options.isPerformSearchIfEmptyText() && searchText.isEmpty()) {
+            performSearch = false;
+        }
+
         int results = 0;
 
         List<SelectItem> selectItems = chosen.getSelectItems();
@@ -63,13 +68,13 @@ public void filter(String searchText, ChosenImpl chosen, boolean isShowing) {
                         optionContent = option.getText();
                     }
 
-                    if (regex.test(optionContent)) {
+                    if (performSearch && regex.test(optionContent)) {
                         found = true;
                         results++;
                     } else if (optionContent.contains(" ") || optionContent.indexOf("[") == 0) {
                         String[] parts = optionContent.replaceAll("\\[|\\]", "").split(" ");
                         for (String part : parts) {
-                            if (regex.test(part)) {
+                            if (performSearch && regex.test(part)) {
                                 found = true;
                                 results++;
                             }