diff --git a/search_api_page.admin.inc b/search_api_page.admin.inc
index 8d4bba9..5b6169f 100644
--- a/search_api_page.admin.inc
+++ b/search_api_page.admin.inc
@@ -112,6 +112,17 @@ function search_api_page_admin_add(array $form, array &$form_state) {
       '#maxlength' => 50,
       '#required' => TRUE,
     );
+  $form['empty_behavior'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'radios',
+    '#title' => t('Behavior on empty search'),
+    '#options' => array(
+      '' => t('Just show the search box'),
+      'results' => t('Show the first page of all available results'),
+      'blocks'  => t("Perform an empty search but don't display any results."),
+    ),
+    '#description' => t('This determines what is shown when the user first comes to the search page or submits an empty keyword string. For example if you want <a href="@url">Facet API</a> facets to show without having entered any search terms, select the "Perform an empty search …" option. If you would like a page of results displayed regardless of the presence of any search terms then select the "Show the first page …" option.', array('@url' => 'https://drupal.org/project/facetapi')),
+    '#default_value' => '',
+  );
 
     $form['submit'] = array(
       '#type' => 'submit',
@@ -445,6 +456,17 @@ function search_api_page_admin_edit(array $form, array &$form_state, Entity $pag
       '#default_value' => !empty($page->options['search_api_spellcheck']),
     );
   }
+  $form['options']['empty_behavior'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'radios',
+    '#title' => t('Behavior on empty search'),
+    '#options' => array(
+      '' => t('Just show the search box'),
+      'results' => t('Show the first page of all available results'),
+      'blocks'  => t('Perform an empty search but don\'t display any results.'),
+    ),
+    '#description' => t('This is what is shown when the user enters an empty search, or removes all filters from an active search. For example if you want !facetapilink facets to show without having entered any search terms select the \'Perform an empty search ...\' option. Additionally, if you would like a page of results displayed regardless of the presence of any search terms then select the \'Show the first page ...\' option.', array('!facetapilink' => l('Facet API', 'https://drupal.org/project/facetapi'))),
+      '#default_value' => (empty($page->options['empty_behavior'])) ? '' : $page->options['empty_behavior'],
+  );
 
   $form['actions']['#type'] = 'actions';
   $form['actions']['submit'] = array(
diff --git a/search_api_page.module b/search_api_page.module
index 41622d3..ed1259f 100755
--- a/search_api_page.module
+++ b/search_api_page.module
@@ -511,7 +511,9 @@ function search_api_page_search_form(array $form, array &$form_state, Entity $pa
  * @see search_api_page_search_form_submit()
  */
 function search_api_page_search_form_validate(array $form, array &$form_state) {
-  if (!trim($form_state['values']['keys_' . $form_state['values']['id']])) {
+  $page = search_api_page_load($form_state['values']['id']);
+
+  if (!trim($form_state['values']['keys_' . $form_state['values']['id']]) && empty($page->options['empty_behavior']))  {
     form_set_error('keys_' . $form_state['values']['id'], t('Please enter at least one keyword.'));
   }
 }
diff --git a/search_api_page.pages.inc b/search_api_page.pages.inc
index a86fde5..6794d68 100644
--- a/search_api_page.pages.inc
+++ b/search_api_page.pages.inc
@@ -7,9 +7,9 @@
 /**
  * Displays a search page.
  *
- * @param $id
+ * @param string $id
  *   The search page's machine name.
- * @param $keys
+ * @param string|null $keys
  *   The keys to search for.
  */
 function search_api_page_view($id, $keys = NULL) {
@@ -19,9 +19,14 @@ function search_api_page_view($id, $keys = NULL) {
   }
 
   // Pre-process keys (unescape \ and /).
-  $keys = explode("\\\\", $keys);
-  $keys = str_replace("\\", "/", $keys);
-  $keys = implode("\\", $keys);
+  if (isset($keys) && $keys !== '') {
+    $keys = explode("\\\\", $keys);
+    $keys = str_replace("\\", "/", $keys);
+    $keys = implode("\\", $keys);
+  }
+  else {
+    $keys = NULL;
+  }
 
   $ret['#contextual_links']['search_api_page'] = array(
     'admin/config/search/search_api/page',
@@ -32,7 +37,8 @@ function search_api_page_view($id, $keys = NULL) {
     $ret['form'] = drupal_get_form('search_api_page_search_form', $page, $keys);
   }
 
-  if ($keys) {
+  // Do a search if we have keys, or our empty behavior and facets dictate.
+  if ($keys || !empty($page->options['empty_behavior'])) {
     // Override per_page setting with GET parameter.
     $limit = $page->options['per_page'];
     if (!empty($page->options['get_per_page'])
@@ -53,6 +59,10 @@ function search_api_page_view($id, $keys = NULL) {
       return $ret;
     }
 
+    if (!$results) {
+      return $ret;
+    }
+
     // If spellcheck results were returned then add them to the render array.
     if (isset($results['search_api_spellcheck'])) {
       $ret['results']['#spellcheck'] = array(
@@ -99,18 +109,20 @@ function search_api_page_view($id, $keys = NULL) {
  *
  * @param Entity $page
  *   The page for which a search should be executed.
- * @param string $keys
- *   The keywords to search for.
+ * @param string|null $keys
+ *   The keywords to search for, or NULL for a search without keywords.
  * @param int $limit
  *   The maximum number of results to return.
  *
- * @return array
- *   The search results as returned by SearchApiQueryInterface::execute().
+ * @return array|false
+ *   FALSE if no keys were given, no facet filters are present and the page is
+ *   configured to show no results in this case. Otherwise, the search results
+ *   as returned by SearchApiQueryInterface::execute().
  *
  * @throws SearchApiException
  *   If an error occurred during the search.
  */
-function search_api_page_search_execute(Entity $page, $keys, $limit = 10) {
+function search_api_page_search_execute(Entity $page, $keys = NULL, $limit = 10) {
   $offset = pager_find_page() * $limit;
   $options = array(
     'search id' => 'search_api_page:' . $page->path,
@@ -141,7 +153,43 @@ function search_api_page_search_execute(Entity $page, $keys, $limit = 10) {
       $query->filter($filter);
     }
   }
-  return $query->execute();
+  $results = $query->execute();
+  if (!$keys && $page->options['empty_behavior'] === 'blocks' && !search_api_page_query_has_facets($query)) {
+    return FALSE;
+  }
+  return $results;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Determines whether an executed query had any facet filters set.
+ *
+ * @param SearchApiQueryInterface $query
+ *   The query in question.
+ *
+ * @return bool
+ *   TRUE if there are filters with a "facet:*" tag present in the query object,
+ *   FALSE otherwise.
+ */
+function search_api_page_query_has_facets(SearchApiQueryInterface $query) {
+  // Check that the search server supports facets.
+  if (module_exists('facetapi') && $query->getIndex()->server()->supportsFeature('search_api_facets')) {
+    // Get the currently-active searcher.
+    $searchers = facetapi_get_active_searchers();
+    $current_searcher = (string) array_shift($searchers);
+
+    // Load the adapter plugin and process the facets.
+    $adapter = facetapi_adapter_load($current_searcher);
+    $adapter->processFacets();
+
+    // Get the list of search keys. If there is at least one, a search is being
+    // run.
+    $search_keys = $adapter->getAllActiveItems();
+    return !empty($search_keys);
+  }
+
+  // If the search server doesn't support facets, there aren't any facet filters
+  // set by definition.
+  return FALSE;
 }
 
 /**