diff --git a/openlp/core/common/uistrings.py b/openlp/core/common/uistrings.py
index 5514b0ffe..27b5e8b42 100644
--- a/openlp/core/common/uistrings.py
+++ b/openlp/core/common/uistrings.py
@@ -165,11 +165,11 @@ class UiStrings(object):
                                                           'from full names, for an example: Joh 3 = John 3'
                                              , 'Please pay attention to the appended "s" of the wildcards and refrain '
                                              'from translating the words inside the names in the brackets.')
-        self.BibleShortSearch = translate('OpenLP.Ui', 'The keyword you have entered is empty or shorter '
-                                                       'than 3 characters long.\nPlease try again with '
-                                                       'a longer keyword.\n\nYou can separate different keywords by '
-                                                       'a space to search for all of your keywords and you can '
-                                                       'separate them by a comma to search for one of them.')
+        self.BibleShortSearch = translate('OpenLP.Ui', '<strong>The search you have entered is empty or shorter '
+                                                       'than 3 characters long.<br>Please try again with '
+                                                       'a longer search.</strong><br><br>You can separate different '
+                                                       'keywords by a space to search for all of your keywords and you '
+                                                       'can separate them by a comma to search for one of them.')
 
 
 
diff --git a/openlp/plugins/bibles/lib/manager.py b/openlp/plugins/bibles/lib/manager.py
index 009f7e65d..68410bd0b 100644
--- a/openlp/plugins/bibles/lib/manager.py
+++ b/openlp/plugins/bibles/lib/manager.py
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ class BibleManager(RegistryProperties):
                                                        'Please use the Scripture Reference Search instead.')
             )
             return None
-        if len(text) < 3 or str.isspace(text):
+        if len(text) - text.count(' ') < 3:
             self.main_window.information_message(
                 ('%s' % UiStrings().BibleShortSearchTitle),
                 ('%s' % UiStrings().BibleShortSearch))
diff --git a/openlp/plugins/bibles/lib/mediaitem.py b/openlp/plugins/bibles/lib/mediaitem.py
index e761b991d..cd097fb47 100644
--- a/openlp/plugins/bibles/lib/mediaitem.py
+++ b/openlp/plugins/bibles/lib/mediaitem.py
@@ -706,9 +706,9 @@ class BibleMediaItem(MediaManagerItem):
             if second_bible and self.search_results:
                 self.second_search_results = \
                     self.plugin.manager.get_verses(second_bible, text, self.search_results[0].book.book_reference_id)
-        # If keyword is shorter than 3, message is given and search is finalized.
+        # If keyword is shorter than 3 (not including spaces), message is given and search is finalized.
         # This needs to be here in order to avoid deadlock/duplicate errors.
-            if len(text) < 3 or str.isspace(text):
+            if len(text) - text.count(' ') < 3:
                 self.main_window.information_message(
                     ('%s' % UiStrings().BibleShortSearchTitle),
                     ('%s' % UiStrings().BibleShortSearch))
@@ -723,8 +723,7 @@ class BibleMediaItem(MediaManagerItem):
                 self.application.set_normal_cursor()
             # Text search starts here if no reference was found and keyword is longer than 2.
             # This is required in order to avoid duplicate error messages for short keywords.
-            # If only spaces are searched OLP becomes unresponsive and  may crash eventually. "isspace" prevents this.
-            if not self.search_results and len(text) > 2 and not str.isspace(text):
+            if not self.search_results and len(text) - text.count(' ') > 2:
                 self.application.set_busy_cursor()
                 bibles = self.plugin.manager.get_bibles()
                 self.search_results = self.plugin.manager.verse_search(bible, second_bible, text)