diff --git a/src/components/search.js b/src/components/search.js
index 54e2709..7d48514 100644
--- a/src/components/search.js
+++ b/src/components/search.js
@@ -26,6 +26,13 @@ export default class Search extends React.PureComponent {
     this.handleChange = throttleIdleTask(this.handleChange.bind(this))
   }
 
+  componentDidMount() {
+    // in some cases (e.g. preact) the input may already be pre-populated
+    if (this.input.value) {
+      this.search(this.input.value)
+    }
+  }
+
   search(value) {
     if (value == '')
       this.setState({