diff --git a/src/khoj/routers/api.py b/src/khoj/routers/api.py
index 266eaed0..822dd278 100644
--- a/src/khoj/routers/api.py
+++ b/src/khoj/routers/api.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # Standard Packages
-from collections import defaultdict
 import concurrent.futures
 import math
 import time
@@ -21,6 +20,7 @@ from khoj.search_type import image_search, text_search
 from khoj.search_filter.date_filter import DateFilter
 from khoj.search_filter.file_filter import FileFilter
 from khoj.search_filter.word_filter import WordFilter
+from khoj.utils.config import TextSearchModel
 from khoj.utils.helpers import log_telemetry, timer
 from khoj.utils.rawconfig import (
     ContentConfig,
@@ -144,10 +144,14 @@ async def search(
 ):
     start_time = time.time()
 
+    # Run validation checks
     results: List[SearchResponse] = []
     if q is None or q == "":
         logger.warn(f"No query param (q) passed in API call to initiate search")
         return results
+    if not state.model or not any(state.model.__dict__.values()):
+        logger.warn(f"No search models loaded. Configure a search model before initiating search")
+        return results
 
     # initialize variables
     user_query = q.strip()
@@ -168,14 +172,20 @@ async def search(
 
     encoded_asymmetric_query = None
     if t == SearchType.All or (t != SearchType.Ledger and t != SearchType.Image):
-        with timer("Encoding query took", logger=logger):
-            encoded_asymmetric_query = util.normalize_embeddings(
-                state.model.org_search.bi_encoder.encode(
-                    [defiltered_query],
-                    convert_to_tensor=True,
-                    device=state.device,
+        text_search_models: List[TextSearchModel] = [
+            model
+            for model_name, model in state.model.__dict__.items()
+            if isinstance(model, TextSearchModel) and model_name != "ledger_search"
+        ]
+        if text_search_models:
+            with timer("Encoding query took", logger=logger):
+                encoded_asymmetric_query = util.normalize_embeddings(
+                    text_search_models[0].bi_encoder.encode(
+                        [defiltered_query],
+                        convert_to_tensor=True,
+                        device=state.device,
+                    )
                 )
-            )
 
     with concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor() as executor:
         if (t == SearchType.Org or t == SearchType.All) and state.model.org_search:
diff --git a/src/khoj/search_type/image_search.py b/src/khoj/search_type/image_search.py
index 092353c7..d6cc33d6 100644
--- a/src/khoj/search_type/image_search.py
+++ b/src/khoj/search_type/image_search.py
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ def extract_metadata(image_name):
     return image_processed_metadata
 
 
-def query(raw_query, count, model: ImageSearchModel, score_threshold: float = -math.inf):
+async def query(raw_query, count, model: ImageSearchModel, score_threshold: float = -math.inf):
     # Set query to image content if query is of form file:/path/to/file.png
     if raw_query.startswith("file:") and pathlib.Path(raw_query[5:]).is_file():
         query_imagepath = resolve_absolute_path(pathlib.Path(raw_query[5:]), strict=True)