diff --git a/assets/search.js b/assets/search.js
index 69a5045..0bc9997 100644
--- a/assets/search.js
+++ b/assets/search.js
@@ -18,11 +18,17 @@ function debouncer(interval, callback) {
     const results = form.querySelector('.live-results');
     const resultPrototype = document.getElementById('search-result-prototype').firstChild;
 
+    function clearChildren(element) {
+        while (element.lastChild) {
+            element.removeChild(results.lastChild);
+        }
+    }
+
     let ongoing = false;
     function submit() {
         if (input.value === "") {
             results.classList.remove("show");
-            while (results.lastChild) results.removeChild(results.lastChild);
+            clearChildren(results);
             return;
         }
 
@@ -43,7 +49,7 @@ function debouncer(interval, callback) {
 
             return response.json();
         }).then(result => {
-            while (results.lastChild) results.removeChild(results.lastChild);
+            clearChildren(results);
 
             result.hits.forEach((hit, index) => {
                 const item = resultPrototype.cloneNode(true);
@@ -68,9 +74,18 @@ function debouncer(interval, callback) {
 
             ongoing = false;
         }).catch(err => {
-            ongoing = false;
             console.error(err);
-            alert(err); // TODO Better interactive error reporting
+
+            clearChildren(results);
+            results.classList.add("show");
+
+            const item = document.createElement("li");
+            item.classList.add("search-result");
+            item.classList.add("error");
+            item.textContent = "Live search unavailable";
+            results.appendChild(item);
+
+            ongoing = false;
         });
     }
     const submitter = debouncer(300, submit);
diff --git a/assets/style.css b/assets/style.css
index 2662c0a..f93407c 100644
--- a/assets/style.css
+++ b/assets/style.css
@@ -385,6 +385,13 @@ input[type="search"] {
     border-top: none;
 }
 
+.live-results .search-result.error {
+    border: 1px solid #ccc;
+    border-top: none;
+    padding: 8px;
+    color: #888;
+}
+
 @media (min-width: 630px) {
     .search {
         text-align: right;