1 files changed, 3 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/lib/xapian_queries.rb b/lib/xapian_queries.rb
index b3599740a..dbb17f592 100644
--- a/lib/xapian_queries.rb
+++ b/lib/xapian_queries.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# -*- encoding : utf-8 -*-
 module XapianQueries
 
     # These methods take some filter criteria expressed in a hash and convert them
@@ -76,10 +77,10 @@ module XapianQueries
     end
 
     def make_query_from_params(params)
-        query = params[:query] || "" if query.nil?
+        query = params.fetch(:query) { '' }
         query += get_date_range_from_params(params)
         query += get_request_variety_from_params(params)
         query += get_status_from_params(params)
-        return query
+        query
     end
 end