diff --git a/data/defaults.yaml b/data/defaults.yaml
--- a/data/defaults.yaml
+++ b/data/defaults.yaml
@@ -1611,7 +1611,7 @@
 # deposit_basic_auth_swhworker_username
 # deposit_basic_auth_swhworker_password
 swh::deploy::webapp::config:
-  search:
+  search: {}
   storage: "%{alias('swh::remote_service::storage::config')}"
   vault: "%{alias('swh::remote_service::vault::config::writable')}"
   indexer_storage: "%{alias('swh::remote_service::indexer::config')}"