diff --git a/ext/search/Civi/Api4/Action/SearchDisplay/Run.php b/ext/search/Civi/Api4/Action/SearchDisplay/Run.php
index 1d736be0c850..5a8d5504ef81 100644
--- a/ext/search/Civi/Api4/Action/SearchDisplay/Run.php
+++ b/ext/search/Civi/Api4/Action/SearchDisplay/Run.php
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class Run extends \Civi\Api4\Generic\AbstractAction {
    * Array of fields to use for ordering the results
    * @var array
    */
-  protected $sort;
+  protected $sort = [];
 
   /**
    * Should this api call return a page of results or the row_count or the ids