diff --git a/lib/class-wp-rest-term-search-handler.php b/lib/class-wp-rest-term-search-handler.php
index 670eeb77e9fa32..b017a103234cdb 100644
--- a/lib/class-wp-rest-term-search-handler.php
+++ b/lib/class-wp-rest-term-search-handler.php
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ public function search_items( WP_REST_Request $request ) {
 			array(
 				'taxonomy'   => $taxonomies,
 				'name__like' => $term_search,
+				'hide_empty' => false,
 			)
 		);
 
diff --git a/phpunit/class-wp-rest-term-search-handler-test.php b/phpunit/class-wp-rest-term-search-handler-test.php
index 13a7770d6bf5ac..16dc8258f6ae6d 100644
--- a/phpunit/class-wp-rest-term-search-handler-test.php
+++ b/phpunit/class-wp-rest-term-search-handler-test.php
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ public function test_get_items_search_type_term() {
 		$this->assertEquals( 200, $response->get_status() );
 		$this->assertEqualSets(
 			array(
+				0 => 1, // that is the default category
 				self::$my_category,
 				self::$my_tag,
 			),
@@ -99,6 +100,7 @@ public function test_get_items_search_type_term_subtype_category() {
 		$this->assertEquals( 200, $response->get_status() );
 		$this->assertEqualSets(
 			array(
+				0 => 1, // that is the default category
 				self::$my_category,
 			),
 			wp_list_pluck( $response->get_data(), 'id' )
@@ -134,6 +136,7 @@ public function test_get_items_search_categories_and_tags() {
 		$this->assertEquals( 200, $response->get_status() );
 		$this->assertEqualSets(
 			array(
+				0 => 1, // this is the default category
 				self::$my_category,
 				self::$my_tag,
 			),