diff --git a/src/main/java/at/ac/uibk/gitsearch/repository/search/MetaDataRepository.java b/src/main/java/at/ac/uibk/gitsearch/repository/search/MetaDataRepository.java
index 1cdf18e3d982e2ace7ec37de1c5d8341c1046185..2be1afbd919f435e691e9bfe8d02f0bc8e3f8339 100644
--- a/src/main/java/at/ac/uibk/gitsearch/repository/search/MetaDataRepository.java
+++ b/src/main/java/at/ac/uibk/gitsearch/repository/search/MetaDataRepository.java
@@ -282,12 +282,13 @@ public class MetaDataRepository {
         objectMapper.registerModule(new JavaTimeModule());
         objectMapper.configure(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES, false);
 
-        final SearchResultsDTO results = new SearchResultsDTO();
         final List<SearchResultDTO> searchResults = new ArrayList<>();
         for (SearchHit searchHit : searchResponse.getHits().getHits()) {
             searchResults.add(parseSearchHit(searchHit, objectMapper));
         }
+
         long hitCount = searchResponse.getHits().getTotalHits();
+        final SearchResultsDTO results = new SearchResultsDTO();
         results.setHitCount(hitCount);
         results.setSearchResult(searchResults);
         return results;