diff --git a/src/lib/Hydra/Controller/Root.pm b/src/lib/Hydra/Controller/Root.pm
index 4070184c..0e17e5ab 100644
--- a/src/lib/Hydra/Controller/Root.pm
+++ b/src/lib/Hydra/Controller/Root.pm
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ use Nix::Config;
 use Encode;
 use File::Basename;
 use JSON;
+use List::Util qw[min max];
 use List::MoreUtils qw{any};
 use Net::Prometheus;
 
@@ -438,12 +439,8 @@ sub search :Local Args(0) {
     error($c, "Invalid character in query.")
         unless $query =~ /^[a-zA-Z0-9_\-\/.]+$/;
 
-    my $limit = trim $c->request->params->{"limit"};
-    if ($limit eq "") {
-        $c->stash->{limit} = 500;
-    } else {
-        $c->stash->{limit} = $limit;
-    }
+    my $limit = int(trim ($c->request->params->{"limit"} || "10"));
+    $c->stash->{limit} = min(50, max(1, $limit));
 
     $c->stash->{projects} = [ $c->model('DB::Projects')->search(
         { -and =>