diff --git a/lib/FieldType/XmlText/SearchField.php b/lib/FieldType/XmlText/SearchField.php
index 4b17189e..babc3b79 100644
--- a/lib/FieldType/XmlText/SearchField.php
+++ b/lib/FieldType/XmlText/SearchField.php
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ private function extractText(DOMNode $node)
     {
         $text = '';
 
-        if ($node->childNodes) {
+        if ($node->childNodes !== null && $node->childNodes->length > 0) {
             foreach ($node->childNodes as $child) {
                 $text .= $this->extractText($child);
             }