diff --git a/rag/nlp/query.py b/rag/nlp/query.py
index af96a8722..aa79496e2 100644
--- a/rag/nlp/query.py
+++ b/rag/nlp/query.py
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ class FulltextQueryer:
                     for s in syns
                 ]
             )
-            if syns:
+            if syns and tms:
                 tms = f"({tms})^5 OR ({syns})^0.7"
 
             qs.append(tms)