diff --git a/similarity_search_addon.cc b/similarity_search_addon.cc
index 362ad84..f065134 100644
--- a/similarity_search_addon.cc
+++ b/similarity_search_addon.cc
@@ -67,6 +67,12 @@ Napi::Value SearchIndexWrapper::AddString(const Napi::CallbackInfo& info) {
   
   std::string str = info[0].As<Napi::String>().Utf8Value();
   
+  // Check if string is empty
+  if (str.empty()) {
+    Napi::Error::New(env, "Empty string not allowed").ThrowAsJavaScriptException();
+    return env.Null();
+  }
+  
   // Check if string is too long
   if (str.length() >= MAX_STRING_LEN) {
     Napi::Error::New(env, "String too long").ThrowAsJavaScriptException();
@@ -99,6 +105,12 @@ Napi::Value SearchIndexWrapper::Search(const Napi::CallbackInfo& info) {
   
   std::string query = info[0].As<Napi::String>().Utf8Value();
   
+  // Check if query is empty
+  if (query.empty()) {
+    Napi::Error::New(env, "Empty query not allowed").ThrowAsJavaScriptException();
+    return env.Null();
+  }
+  
   // Check if query string is too long
   if (query.length() >= MAX_STRING_LEN) {
     Napi::Error::New(env, "Query string too long").ThrowAsJavaScriptException();