diff --git a/templates/base.html b/templates/base.html
index 913a5eb..9a34f40 100644
--- a/templates/base.html
+++ b/templates/base.html
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@
     $(document).ready(function () {
         $('button[data-target="#searchModal"]').click(function() {
             let modalBody = $("#searchModal div.modal-body");
-            let q = $("#search-term").val();
+            let q = encodeURI($("#search-term").val());
             modalBody.load("{% url "haystack_search" %}?q=" + q + " #search-results");
         });
         $('a[data-target="#loginModal"]').click(function() {