diff --git a/netlify/functions/search/search.js b/netlify/functions/search/search.js
index 31958ce..e4b8b80 100644
--- a/netlify/functions/search/search.js
+++ b/netlify/functions/search/search.js
@@ -1,8 +1,15 @@
 const lunrjs = require('lunr');
+require('dotenv').config();
 
 const handler = async (event) => {
   try {
 
+    if (!process.env.dgEnableSearch) {
+      return {
+        statusCode: 200,
+        body: JSON.stringify([])
+      }
+    }
 
     const search = event.queryStringParameters.term;
     if(!search) throw('Missing term query parameter');
diff --git a/src/site/lunr-index.js b/src/site/lunr-index.js
index f8db093..5846ea3 100644
--- a/src/site/lunr-index.js
+++ b/src/site/lunr-index.js
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@ function createIndex(posts) {
   });
 }
 
-if (process.env.dgEnableSearch) {
-  const data = require('../../netlify/functions/search/data.json');
-  const index = createIndex(data);
-  require('fs').writeFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '../../netlify/functions/search/index.json'), JSON.stringify(index));
-}
+const data = require('../../netlify/functions/search/data.json');
+const index = createIndex(data);
+require('fs').writeFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '../../netlify/functions/search/index.json'), JSON.stringify(index));