diff --git a/aio/src/app/app.component.spec.ts b/aio/src/app/app.component.spec.ts
index b27951a1ff..ca60257b08 100644
--- a/aio/src/app/app.component.spec.ts
+++ b/aio/src/app/app.component.spec.ts
@@ -721,6 +721,15 @@ describe('AppComponent', () => {
           expect(component.showSearchResults).toBe(false);
         });
 
+        it('should clear "only" the search query param from the URL', () => {
+          // Mock out the current state of the URL query params
+          locationService.search.and.returnValue({ a: 'some-A', b: 'some-B', search: 'some-C'});
+          // docViewer is a commonly-clicked, non-search element
+          docViewer.click();
+          // Check that the query params were updated correctly
+          expect(locationService.setSearch).toHaveBeenCalledWith('', { a: 'some-A', b: 'some-B', search: undefined });
+        });
+
         it('should not intercept clicks on the searchResults', () => {
           component.showSearchResults = true;
           fixture.detectChanges();
diff --git a/aio/src/app/app.component.ts b/aio/src/app/app.component.ts
index a15c4ca3fe..7353f7480c 100644
--- a/aio/src/app/app.component.ts
+++ b/aio/src/app/app.component.ts
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ export class AppComponent implements OnInit {
 
   hideSearchResults() {
     this.showSearchResults = false;
-    this.locationService.setSearch('', {});
+    this.locationService.setSearch('', { ...this.locationService.search(), search: undefined });
   }
 
   focusSearchBox() {