diff --git a/notmuch/src/lib.rs b/notmuch/src/lib.rs
index 0ffde83..7cf18b5 100644
--- a/notmuch/src/lib.rs
+++ b/notmuch/src/lib.rs
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ use std::{
     process::Command,
 };
 
-use log::info;
+use log::{error, info};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 
 /// # Number of seconds since the Epoch
@@ -507,14 +507,19 @@ impl Notmuch {
     ) -> Result<SearchSummary, NotmuchError> {
         let query = if query.is_empty() { "*" } else { query };
 
-        let res = self.run_notmuch([
-            "search",
-            "--format=json",
-            &format!("--offset={offset}"),
-            &format!("--limit={limit}"),
-            query,
-        ])?;
-        Ok(serde_json::from_slice(&res)?)
+        let res = self
+            .run_notmuch([
+                "search",
+                "--format=json",
+                &format!("--offset={offset}"),
+                &format!("--limit={limit}"),
+                query,
+            ])
+            .inspect_err(|err| error!("failed to notmuch search for query '{query}': {err}"))?;
+        Ok(serde_json::from_slice(&res).unwrap_or_else(|err| {
+            error!("failed to decode search result for query '{query}': {err}");
+            SearchSummary(Vec::new())
+        }))
     }
 
     pub fn count(&self, query: &str) -> Result<usize, NotmuchError> {
@@ -523,8 +528,10 @@ impl Notmuch {
         // let res = self.run_notmuch(["count", "--output=threads", query])?;
         let res = self.run_notmuch(["count", query])?;
         // Strip '\n' from res.
-        let s = std::str::from_utf8(&res[..res.len() - 1])?;
-        Ok(s.parse()?)
+        let s = std::str::from_utf8(&res)?.trim();
+        Ok(s.parse()
+            .inspect_err(|err| error!("failed to parse count for query '{query}': {err}"))
+            .unwrap_or(0))
     }
 
     pub fn show(&self, query: &str) -> Result<ThreadSet, NotmuchError> {