diff --git a/lib/DDG/Goodie/URLDecode.pm b/lib/DDG/Goodie/URLDecode.pm
index 3b55ec637..60c4b97c5 100755
--- a/lib/DDG/Goodie/URLDecode.pm
+++ b/lib/DDG/Goodie/URLDecode.pm
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ category 'computing_tools';
 topics 'programming', 'web_design';
 
 handle query_raw => sub {
+    # unless trigger words exist, only answer when we have a single word
+    unless (m/$trigger_words/) {
+        return if m/\s+/;
+    }
     #remove triggers and trim
     s/(^$trigger_words)|($trigger_words$)//i;
     s/(^\s+)|(\s+$)//;