diff --git a/daemon.py b/daemon.py
index 1bd5095f3..9fd7231fb 100644
--- a/daemon.py
+++ b/daemon.py
@@ -18940,7 +18940,9 @@ class PubServer(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
                 self._write(msg)
                 self.server.getreq_busy = False
                 return
-            self._404()
+            else:
+                # redirect to the hashtag url
+                self._redirect_headers(hashtag_url, None, calling_domain)
             self.server.getreq_busy = False
             return
 
diff --git a/webapp_search.py b/webapp_search.py
index e95262563..852dd7eb2 100644
--- a/webapp_search.py
+++ b/webapp_search.py
@@ -1103,6 +1103,8 @@ def html_hashtag_search_remote(nickname: str, domain: str, port: int,
             print('No orderedItems in hashtag collection ' + str(hashtag_json))
     else:
         print('WARN: no hashtags returned for url ' + hashtag_url)
+    if not lines:
+        return ''
 
     separator_str = html_post_separator(base_dir, None)