diff --git a/Octokit.Tests.Integration/Clients/SearchClientTests.cs b/Octokit.Tests.Integration/Clients/SearchClientTests.cs
index 8ae982509e..b1267410cc 100644
--- a/Octokit.Tests.Integration/Clients/SearchClientTests.cs
+++ b/Octokit.Tests.Integration/Clients/SearchClientTests.cs
@@ -57,6 +57,20 @@ public async Task SearchForFileNameInCode()
         Assert.NotEmpty(repos.Items);
     }
 
+    [IntegrationTest]
+    public async Task SearchForFileNameInCodeWithoutTerm()
+    {
+        var request = new SearchCodeRequest()
+        {
+            FileName = "readme.md",
+            Repos = new RepositoryCollection { "octokit/octokit.net" }
+        };
+
+        var repos = await _gitHubClient.Search.SearchCode(request);
+
+        Assert.NotEmpty(repos.Items);
+    }
+
     [IntegrationTest]
     public async Task SearchForWordInCode()
     {
diff --git a/Octokit/Models/Request/BaseSearchRequest.cs b/Octokit/Models/Request/BaseSearchRequest.cs
index d3cff73d0c..7ff689def8 100644
--- a/Octokit/Models/Request/BaseSearchRequest.cs
+++ b/Octokit/Models/Request/BaseSearchRequest.cs
@@ -85,7 +85,14 @@ private string TermAndQualifiers
             get
             {
                 var mergedParameters = string.Join("+", MergedQualifiers());
-                return Term + (mergedParameters.IsNotBlank() ? "+" + mergedParameters : "");
+                if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(Term))
+                {
+                    return mergedParameters;
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    return Term + (mergedParameters.IsNotBlank() ? "+" + mergedParameters : "");
+                }
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/Octokit/Models/Request/SearchCodeRequest.cs b/Octokit/Models/Request/SearchCodeRequest.cs
index f5c8693dc9..4e4142310f 100644
--- a/Octokit/Models/Request/SearchCodeRequest.cs
+++ b/Octokit/Models/Request/SearchCodeRequest.cs
@@ -15,6 +15,14 @@ namespace Octokit
     [DebuggerDisplay("{DebuggerDisplay,nq}")]
     public class SearchCodeRequest : BaseSearchRequest
     {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="SearchCodeRequest"/> class.
+        /// </summary>
+        public SearchCodeRequest() : base()
+        {
+            Repos = new RepositoryCollection();
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="SearchCodeRequest"/> class.
         /// </summary>