diff --git a/phpBB/search.php b/phpBB/search.php
index fd67b483e8..54f0f225a0 100644
--- a/phpBB/search.php
+++ b/phpBB/search.php
@@ -294,7 +294,9 @@ if ($keywords || $author || $author_id || $search_id || $submit)
 		if (!$correct_query || (!$search->get_search_query() && !sizeof($author_id_ary) && !$search_id))
 		{
 			$ignored = (sizeof($search->get_common_words())) ? sprintf($user->lang['IGNORED_TERMS_EXPLAIN'], implode(' ', $search->get_common_words())) . '<br />' : '';
-			trigger_error($ignored . $user->lang('NO_KEYWORDS', $user->lang('CHARACTERS', (int) $search->word_length['min']), $user->lang('CHARACTERS', (int) $search->word_length['max'])));
+			// Function cannot be directly used as associative array for php < 5.4
+			$word_length = $search->get_word_length();
+			trigger_error($ignored . $user->lang('NO_KEYWORDS', $user->lang('CHARACTERS', (int) $word_length['min']), $user->lang('CHARACTERS', (int) $word_length['max'])));
 		}
 	}