diff --git a/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Recommend/PubDateVisAjax.php b/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Recommend/PubDateVisAjax.php
index 110333c59ee525ac4b9ac7b937bbc4ed4c0d6662..8f9b1d7db1053a2c15b9dada2df83972bffb1c58 100644
--- a/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Recommend/PubDateVisAjax.php
+++ b/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/Recommend/PubDateVisAjax.php
@@ -115,6 +115,10 @@ class PubDateVisAjax implements RecommendInterface
      */
     public function getVisFacets()
     {
+        // Don't bother processing if the result set is empty:
+        if ($this->searchObject->getResultTotal() == 0) {
+            return array();
+        }
         return $this->processDateFacets(
             $this->searchObject->getParams()->getFilters()
         );