diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index bf6cf7c00c..9501e2275d 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -210,12 +210,12 @@ function main()
         if ($_lighty_url['path'] != '/index.php' && $_lighty_url['path'] != '/') {
             $_lighty_path = preg_replace('/^'.preg_quote(common_config('site', 'path')).'\//', '', substr($_lighty_url['path'], 1));
             $_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'] = 'p='.$_lighty_path;
-            if ($_lighty_url['query']) {
+            if (isset($_lighty_url['query']) && $_lighty_url['query'] != '') {
                 $_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'] .= '&'.$_lighty_url['query'];
-            }
-            parse_str($_lighty_url['query'], $_lighty_query);
-            foreach ($_lighty_query as $key => $val) {
-                $_GET[$key] = $_REQUEST[$key] = $val;
+                parse_str($_lighty_url['query'], $_lighty_query);
+                foreach ($_lighty_query as $key => $val) {
+                    $_GET[$key] = $_REQUEST[$key] = $val;
+                }
             }
             $_GET['p'] = $_REQUEST['p'] = $_lighty_path;
         }