diff --git a/src/public/app/services/link.spec.ts b/src/public/app/services/link.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..984822a50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/public/app/services/link.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { parseNavigationStateFromUrl } from "./link.js";
+
+describe("Link", () => {
+    it("parses plain searchString", () => {
+        const output = parseNavigationStateFromUrl("http://localhost:8080/#?searchString=hello");
+        expect(output).toMatchObject({ searchString: "hello" });
+    });
+});
diff --git a/src/public/app/services/link.ts b/src/public/app/services/link.ts
index 8cda26fa5..c57ec5494 100644
--- a/src/public/app/services/link.ts
+++ b/src/public/app/services/link.ts
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ function calculateHash({ notePath, ntxId, hoistedNoteId, viewScope = {} }: NoteC
     return hash;
 }
 
-function parseNavigationStateFromUrl(url: string | undefined) {
+export function parseNavigationStateFromUrl(url: string | undefined) {
     if (!url) {
         return {};
     }
@@ -209,11 +209,7 @@ function parseNavigationStateFromUrl(url: string | undefined) {
     }
 
     const hash = url.substr(hashIdx + 1); // strip also the initial '#'
-    const [notePath, paramString] = hash.split("?");
-
-    if (!notePath.match(/^[_a-z0-9]{4,}(\/[_a-z0-9]{4,})*$/i)) {
-        return {};
-    }
+    let [notePath, paramString] = hash.split("?");
 
     const viewScope: ViewScope = {
         viewMode: "default"
@@ -242,6 +238,10 @@ function parseNavigationStateFromUrl(url: string | undefined) {
         }
     }
 
+    if (!notePath.match(/^[_a-z0-9]{4,}(\/[_a-z0-9]{4,})*$/i)) {
+        return { searchString }
+    }
+
     return {
         notePath,
         noteId: treeService.getNoteIdFromUrl(notePath),