diff --git a/src/khoj/processor/tools/online_search.py b/src/khoj/processor/tools/online_search.py
index 82cf0da7..d7d951f0 100644
--- a/src/khoj/processor/tools/online_search.py
+++ b/src/khoj/processor/tools/online_search.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ from khoj.routers.helpers import (
     generate_online_subqueries,
     infer_webpage_urls,
 )
-from khoj.utils.helpers import is_none_or_empty, timer
+from khoj.utils.helpers import is_internet_connected, is_none_or_empty, timer
 from khoj.utils.rawconfig import LocationData
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ async def search_online(
     if not online_search_enabled():
         logger.warn("SERPER_DEV_API_KEY is not set")
         return {}
+    if not is_internet_connected():
+        logger.warn("Cannot search online as not connected to internet")
+        return {}
 
     # Breakdown the query into subqueries to get the correct answer
     subqueries = await generate_online_subqueries(query, conversation_history, location)
diff --git a/src/khoj/utils/helpers.py b/src/khoj/utils/helpers.py
index e621f53e..3cb5bfac 100644
--- a/src/khoj/utils/helpers.py
+++ b/src/khoj/utils/helpers.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Optional, Union
 from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
 import psutil
+import requests
 import torch
 from asgiref.sync import sync_to_async
 from magika import Magika
@@ -397,3 +398,11 @@ def is_valid_url(url: str) -> bool:
         return all([result.scheme, result.netloc])
     except:
         return False
+
+
+def is_internet_connected():
+    try:
+        response = requests.head("https://www.google.com")
+        return response.status_code == 200
+    except:
+        return False