diff --git a/app/search_builders/umrdr/search_builder.rb b/app/search_builders/umrdr/search_builder.rb
index 74700089..a99b8f35 100644
--- a/app/search_builders/umrdr/search_builder.rb
+++ b/app/search_builders/umrdr/search_builder.rb
@@ -3,19 +3,21 @@ class Umrdr::SearchBuilder < Sufia::SearchBuilder
   # show both works that match the query and works that contain files that match the query
   def show_works_or_works_that_contain_files(solr_parameters)
     return if solr_parameters[:q].blank?
-    extract_user_params(solr_parameters[:q])
     solr_parameters[:user_query] = extract_user_query(solr_parameters[:q])
     solr_parameters[:q] = new_query
   end
 
   protected
 
-    def extract_user_params(query)
-      @user_params = query.split('}')[0].split('{')[1].sub('!', '').sub('dismax ', '')
-    end
-
     def extract_user_query(query)
-      query.split('}')[1]
+      @user_params = ''
+      user_params, user_query = query.split('}')
+      if user_query
+        @user_params = user_params.split('{')[1].sub('!', '').sub('dismax ', '')
+      else
+        user_query = user_params
+      end
+      user_query
     end
 
     # the {!dismax} causes the query to go against the query fields