diff --git a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-empi/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/empi/svc/candidate/EmpiCandidateSearchCriteriaBuilderSvc.java b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-empi/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/empi/svc/candidate/EmpiCandidateSearchCriteriaBuilderSvc.java
index 00c93ce4a00..38c7753941b 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-empi/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/empi/svc/candidate/EmpiCandidateSearchCriteriaBuilderSvc.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-empi/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/empi/svc/candidate/EmpiCandidateSearchCriteriaBuilderSvc.java
@@ -46,16 +46,17 @@ public class EmpiCandidateSearchCriteriaBuilderSvc {
 	public Optional<String> buildResourceQueryString(String theResourceType, IAnyResource theResource, List<String> theFilterCriteria, EmpiResourceSearchParamJson resourceSearchParam) {
 		List<String> criteria = new ArrayList<>();
 
-		resourceSearchParam.iterator().forEachRemaining(searchParam -> {
-			//to compare it to all known PERSON objects, using the overlapping search parameters that they have.
-			List<String> valuesFromResourceForSearchParam = myEmpiSearchParamSvc.getValueFromResourceForSearchParam(theResource, searchParam);
-			if (!valuesFromResourceForSearchParam.isEmpty()) {
-				criteria.add(buildResourceMatchQuery(searchParam, valuesFromResourceForSearchParam));
-			}
-		});
-		if (criteria.isEmpty()) {
-			return Optional.empty();
+		//If there is no candidateSearchParams, then we want to just use the filters.
+		if (resourceSearchParam != null) {
+			resourceSearchParam.iterator().forEachRemaining(searchParam -> {
+				//to compare it to all known PERSON objects, using the overlapping search parameters that they have.
+				List<String> valuesFromResourceForSearchParam = myEmpiSearchParamSvc.getValueFromResourceForSearchParam(theResource, searchParam);
+				if (!valuesFromResourceForSearchParam.isEmpty()) {
+					criteria.add(buildResourceMatchQuery(searchParam, valuesFromResourceForSearchParam));
+				}
+			});
 		}
+
 		criteria.addAll(theFilterCriteria);
 		return Optional.of(theResourceType + "?" +  String.join("&", criteria));
 	}
diff --git a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-empi/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/empi/svc/candidate/EmpiCandidateSearchSvc.java b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-empi/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/empi/svc/candidate/EmpiCandidateSearchSvc.java
index e78ba51cb27..175a753a7dd 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-empi/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/empi/svc/candidate/EmpiCandidateSearchSvc.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-empi/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/empi/svc/candidate/EmpiCandidateSearchSvc.java
@@ -80,13 +80,18 @@ public class EmpiCandidateSearchSvc {
 
 		List<String> filterCriteria = buildFilterQuery(filterSearchParams, theResourceType);
 
-		for (EmpiResourceSearchParamJson resourceSearchParam : myEmpiConfig.getEmpiRules().getCandidateSearchParams()) {
+		List<EmpiResourceSearchParamJson> candidateSearchParams = myEmpiConfig.getEmpiRules().getCandidateSearchParams();
+		if (candidateSearchParams == null || candidateSearchParams.isEmpty()) {
+			searchForIdsAndAddToMap(theResourceType, theResource, matchedPidsToResources, filterCriteria, null);
+		} else {
+			for (EmpiResourceSearchParamJson resourceSearchParam : candidateSearchParams) {
 
-			if (!isSearchParamForResource(theResourceType, resourceSearchParam)) {
-				continue;
+				if (!isSearchParamForResource(theResourceType, resourceSearchParam)) {
+					continue;
+				}
+
+				searchForIdsAndAddToMap(theResourceType, theResource, matchedPidsToResources, filterCriteria, resourceSearchParam);
 			}
-
-			searchForIdsAndAddToMap(theResourceType, theResource, matchedPidsToResources, filterCriteria, resourceSearchParam);
 		}
 		//Obviously we don't want to consider the freshly added resource as a potential candidate.
 		//Sometimes, we are running this function on a resource that has not yet been persisted,