diff --git a/includes/classes/Feature/Search/Weighting.php b/includes/classes/Feature/Search/Weighting.php
index 0653bcb11e..3ac33b60ac 100644
--- a/includes/classes/Feature/Search/Weighting.php
+++ b/includes/classes/Feature/Search/Weighting.php
@@ -359,6 +359,9 @@ public function recursively_inject_weights_to_fields( &$fieldset, $weights ) {
 		}
 
 		if ( is_array( $fieldset ) && isset( $fieldset['fields'] ) ) {
+			if ( ! is_array( $fieldset['fields'] ) ) {
+				$fieldset['fields'] = [];
+			}
 			// Add any fields to the search that aren't already in there (weighting handled in next step)
 			foreach ( $weights as $field => $settings ) {
 				if ( ! in_array( $field, $fieldset['fields'], true ) ) {
@@ -386,7 +389,7 @@ public function recursively_inject_weights_to_fields( &$fieldset, $weights ) {
 				// else: Leave anything that isn't explicitly disabled alone. Could have been added by search_fields, and if it is not present in the UI, we shouldn't touch it here
 
 				// If fieldset has fuzziness enabled and fuzziness is disabled for this field, unset the field
-				if ( isset( $fieldset['fuzziness'] ) && $fieldset['fuzziness'] && isset( $weights[ $field ]['fuzziness'] ) && false === $weights[ $field ]['fuzziness'] ) {
+				if ( isset( $fieldset['fuzziness'] ) && $fieldset['fuzziness'] && isset( $weights[ $field ] ) && isset( $weights[ $field ]['fuzziness'] ) && false === $weights[ $field ]['fuzziness'] ) {
 					unset( $fieldset['fields'][ $key ] );
 				}
 			}