diff --git a/lib/pact_broker/string_refinements.rb b/lib/pact_broker/string_refinements.rb
index e8960bca7..2c389e248 100644
--- a/lib/pact_broker/string_refinements.rb
+++ b/lib/pact_broker/string_refinements.rb
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ module StringRefinements
       def blank?
         true
       end
+
+      def present?
+        false
+      end
     end
 
     refine Numeric do
@@ -13,6 +17,10 @@ def blank?
     end
 
     refine String do
+      def present?
+        !blank?
+      end
+
       def not_blank?
         !blank?
       end
diff --git a/lib/pact_broker/ui/controllers/index.rb b/lib/pact_broker/ui/controllers/index.rb
index 4f92b3456..e14f7f0de 100644
--- a/lib/pact_broker/ui/controllers/index.rb
+++ b/lib/pact_broker/ui/controllers/index.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 require "pact_broker/ui/controllers/base_controller"
 require "pact_broker/ui/view_models/index_items"
+require "pact_broker/string_refinements"
 require "haml"
 
 module PactBroker
@@ -7,6 +8,7 @@ module UI
     module Controllers
       class Index < Base
         include PactBroker::Services
+        using PactBroker::StringRefinements
 
         get "/" do
           set_headers
@@ -27,7 +29,7 @@ class Index < Base
 
           index_items = index_service.find_index_items(options)
 
-          if index_items.blank? && !search.blank?
+          if index_items.empty? && !search.blank?
             error_messages << "No pacticipants found matching: \"#{search}\""
           end