diff --git a/module/finc/src/finc/Recommend/EbscoResults.php b/module/finc/src/finc/Recommend/EbscoResults.php
index fce9d9dab7565bffb392b78a442a2d7a8900e5e7..79a0b5c845b768ad37d81c32c0650922a4dcfa32 100644
--- a/module/finc/src/finc/Recommend/EbscoResults.php
+++ b/module/finc/src/finc/Recommend/EbscoResults.php
@@ -163,12 +163,17 @@ class EbscoResults implements \VuFind\Recommend\RecommendInterface,
 
         if (!$results->isSuccess()) {
             $this->results = false;
+            return;
         }
         $this->results = $this->sortByHits(
             json_decode($results->getBody(), true)
         );
         if (json_last_error() !== JSON_ERROR_NONE) {
-            throw new \Exception('JSON type error ' . json_last_error_msg());
+            $this->debug(
+                'JSON type error "'
+                . json_last_error_msg().'"'
+                . (empty($results->getBody()) ? '. EBSCO result was empty.' : '')
+            );
         }
     }