diff --git a/AzureSearchEmulator.IntegrationTests/EmptyIndexIntegrationTests.cs b/AzureSearchEmulator.IntegrationTests/EmptyIndexIntegrationTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..49dc890
--- /dev/null
+++ b/AzureSearchEmulator.IntegrationTests/EmptyIndexIntegrationTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes.Models;
+using Azure.Search.Documents.Models;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace AzureSearchEmulator.IntegrationTests;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// An index that exists but has never had a document written answers queries with nothing,
+/// as in Azure, instead of failing because its Lucene directory has not been created yet.
+/// </summary>
+public class EmptyIndexIntegrationTests(EmulatorFactory factory)
+    : IClassFixture<EmulatorFactory>
+{
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task NeverWrittenIndex_SearchesAndGetsReturnNothing()
+    {
+        var indexName = "empty-" + Guid.NewGuid().ToString("N")[..8];
+        var cancellationToken = TestContext.Current.CancellationToken;
+
+        await factory.CreateSearchIndexClient().CreateIndexAsync(
+            new SearchIndex(indexName)
+            {
+                Fields =
+                {
+                    new SearchField("id", SearchFieldDataType.String) { IsKey = true },
+                    new SearchField("name", SearchFieldDataType.String) { IsSearchable = true },
+                }
+            },
+            cancellationToken);
+
+        var client = factory.CreateSearchClient(indexName);
+
+        var results = await client.SearchAsync<SearchDocument>("x", new Azure.Search.Documents.SearchOptions { IncludeTotalCount = true }, cancellationToken);
+        Assert.Equal(0, results.Value.TotalCount);
+
+        Assert.Equal(0, (await client.GetDocumentCountAsync(cancellationToken)).Value);
+
+        var ex = await Assert.ThrowsAsync<Azure.RequestFailedException>(
+            async () => await client.GetDocumentAsync<SearchDocument>("1", cancellationToken: cancellationToken));
+        Assert.Equal(404, ex.Status);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/AzureSearchEmulator.IntegrationTests/ErrorResponseIntegrationTests.cs b/AzureSearchEmulator.IntegrationTests/ErrorResponseIntegrationTests.cs
index ba49908..7293d58 100644
--- a/AzureSearchEmulator.IntegrationTests/ErrorResponseIntegrationTests.cs
+++ b/AzureSearchEmulator.IntegrationTests/ErrorResponseIntegrationTests.cs
@@ -176,50 +176,6 @@ public async Task DocumentLookupWithUnknownSelectField_IsRejectedAsBadRequest()
         await indexClient.DeleteIndexAsync(indexName, TestContext.Current.CancellationToken);
     }
 
-    /// <summary>
-    /// An unexpected fault still answers in the envelope, and without leaking internals.
-    /// </summary>
-    /// <remarks>
-    /// Searching an index that has never had a document written to it currently trips a Lucene
-    /// DirectoryNotFoundException, because the segment directory is only created on first write.
-    /// That 500 is arguably its own bug — the real service answers an empty result set — so this
-    /// test deliberately asserts only on the SHAPE of an unexpected failure, not on this query
-    /// being one. Should the empty-index case be fixed to return results, the assertions below
-    /// stop applying and the test should be pointed at another unexpected fault rather than
-    /// being made to keep this 500 alive.
-    ///
-    /// The generic message is the point: the underlying exception names the emulator's own
-    /// filesystem paths, and those belong in the log rather than the response body.
-    /// </remarks>
-    [Fact]
-    public async Task UnexpectedFailure_ReturnsEnvelopeWithoutInternalDetail()
-    {
-        const string indexName = $"{IndexName}-unexpected";
-        var indexClient = factory.CreateSearchIndexClient();
-        await indexClient.CreateIndexAsync(BuildIndex(indexName), TestContext.Current.CancellationToken);
-
-        var http = factory.CreateHttpClient();
-        var response = await http.GetAsync(
-            $"/indexes/{indexName}/docs?search=*",
-            TestContext.Current.CancellationToken);
-
-        var body = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync(TestContext.Current.CancellationToken);
-
-        // Guard the premise: if this stops being a server fault, the assertions below are no
-        // longer testing what they claim to.
-        Assert.True(response.StatusCode == HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError,
-            $"This test needs a query that faults unexpectedly; got {(int)response.StatusCode}. Body: {body}");
-
-        using var document = JsonDocument.Parse(body);
-        var message = document.RootElement.GetProperty("error").GetProperty("message").GetString();
-
-        Assert.Equal("An unexpected error occurred.", message);
-        Assert.DoesNotContain("/app", body, StringComparison.Ordinal);
-        Assert.DoesNotContain("Exception", body, StringComparison.Ordinal);
-
-        await indexClient.DeleteIndexAsync(indexName, TestContext.Current.CancellationToken);
-    }
-
     /// <summary>
     /// What the consumer sees: the SDK reads the message out of the envelope instead of
     /// falling back to its own "Service request failed."
diff --git a/AzureSearchEmulator/Searching/LuceneNetIndexSearcher.cs b/AzureSearchEmulator/Searching/LuceneNetIndexSearcher.cs
index 2d049f5..a5704ff 100644
--- a/AzureSearchEmulator/Searching/LuceneNetIndexSearcher.cs
+++ b/AzureSearchEmulator/Searching/LuceneNetIndexSearcher.cs
@@ -1097,10 +1097,30 @@ private static JsonObject ConvertSearchDoc(
         }
     }
 
-    private IndexSearcher GetSearcher(SearchIndex index)
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Stands in for the index directory of an index that has never had a document written: the
+    /// directory is created on first write, so until then there is nothing to open, and Azure
+    /// answers such an index with an empty result rather than an error.
+    /// </summary>
+    private static readonly Lazy<IndexReader> EmptyReader = new(() =>
     {
-        var reader = indexReaderFactory.GetIndexReader(index.Name);
+        var directory = new Lucene.Net.Store.RAMDirectory();
+        var config = new IndexWriterConfig(Lucene.Net.Util.LuceneVersion.LUCENE_48, new Lucene.Net.Analysis.Core.KeywordAnalyzer());
+
+        new IndexWriter(directory, config).Dispose();
 
-        return new IndexSearcher(reader);
+        return DirectoryReader.Open(directory);
+    });
+
+    private IndexSearcher GetSearcher(SearchIndex index)
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            return new IndexSearcher(indexReaderFactory.GetIndexReader(index.Name));
+        }
+        catch (DirectoryNotFoundException)
+        {
+            return new IndexSearcher(EmptyReader.Value);
+        }
     }
 }