diff --git a/pkg/gui/context/local_commits_context.go b/pkg/gui/context/local_commits_context.go
index 0cb7a628c..eecb16107 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/context/local_commits_context.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/context/local_commits_context.go
@@ -202,6 +202,15 @@ func shouldShowGraph(c *ContextCommon) bool {
 }
 
 func searchModelCommits(caseSensitive bool, commits []*models.Commit, columnPositions []int, searchStr string) []gocui.SearchPosition {
+	if columnPositions == nil {
+		// This should never happen. We are being called at a time where our
+		// entire view content is scrolled out of view, so that we didn't draw
+		// anything the last time we rendered. If we run into a scenario where
+		// this happens, we should fix it, but until we found them all, at least
+		// make sure we don't crash.
+		return []gocui.SearchPosition{}
+	}
+
 	normalize := lo.Ternary(caseSensitive, func(s string) string { return s }, strings.ToLower)
 	return lo.FilterMap(commits, func(commit *models.Commit, idx int) (gocui.SearchPosition, bool) {
 		// The XStart and XEnd values are only used if the search string can't
diff --git a/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go b/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go
index e29879b9d..579bc9d3e 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/refresh_helper.go
@@ -765,8 +765,18 @@ func (self *RefreshHelper) refreshView(context types.Context) error {
 
 	err := self.c.PostRefreshUpdate(context)
 
-	// Re-applying the search must be done after re-rendering the view though,
-	// so that the "x of y" status is shown correctly.
-	self.searchHelper.ReApplySearch(context)
+	self.c.AfterLayout(func() error {
+		// Re-applying the search must be done after re-rendering the view though,
+		// so that the "x of y" status is shown correctly.
+		//
+		// Also, it must be done after layout, because otherwise FocusPoint
+		// hasn't been called yet (see ListContextTrait.FocusLine), which means
+		// that the scroll position might be such that the entire visible
+		// content is outside the viewport. And this would cause problems in
+		// searchModelCommits.
+		self.searchHelper.ReApplySearch(context)
+		return nil
+	})
+
 	return err
 }
diff --git a/pkg/gui/controllers/local_commits_controller.go b/pkg/gui/controllers/local_commits_controller.go
index 3900d7f32..2d4232f33 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/controllers/local_commits_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/controllers/local_commits_controller.go
@@ -207,14 +207,8 @@ func (self *LocalCommitsController) GetKeybindings(opts types.KeybindingsOpts) [
 			Description:       self.c.Tr.MarkAsBaseCommit,
 			Tooltip:           self.c.Tr.MarkAsBaseCommitTooltip,
 		},
-		// overriding these navigation keybindings because we might need to load
+		// overriding this navigation keybinding because we might need to load
 		// more commits on demand
-		{
-			Key:         opts.GetKey(opts.Config.Universal.StartSearch),
-			Handler:     self.openSearch,
-			Description: self.c.Tr.StartSearch,
-			Tag:         "navigation",
-		},
 		{
 			Key:         opts.GetKey(opts.Config.Universal.GotoBottom),
 			Handler:     self.gotoBottom,
@@ -228,6 +222,14 @@ func (self *LocalCommitsController) GetKeybindings(opts types.KeybindingsOpts) [
 	}
 
 	bindings := append(outsideFilterModeBindings, []*types.Binding{
+		// overriding this navigation keybinding because we might need to load
+		// more commits on demand
+		{
+			Key:         opts.GetKey(opts.Config.Universal.StartSearch),
+			Handler:     self.openSearch,
+			Description: self.c.Tr.StartSearch,
+			Tag:         "navigation",
+		},
 		{
 			Key:               opts.GetKey(opts.Config.Commits.AmendToCommit),
 			Handler:           self.withItem(self.amendTo),
diff --git a/pkg/gui/presentation/commits.go b/pkg/gui/presentation/commits.go
index f9bdb4eb7..234a84e5c 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/presentation/commits.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/presentation/commits.go
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ func GetCommitListDisplayStrings(
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	if startIdx > len(commits) {
+	if startIdx >= len(commits) {
 		return nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/utils/formatting.go b/pkg/utils/formatting.go
index b7817346a..b13a2ffa8 100644
--- a/pkg/utils/formatting.go
+++ b/pkg/utils/formatting.go
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ func WithPadding(str string, padding int, alignment Alignment) string {
 // returns a list of strings that should be joined with "\n", and an array of
 // the column positions
 func RenderDisplayStrings(displayStringsArr [][]string, columnAlignments []Alignment) ([]string, []int) {
+	if len(displayStringsArr) == 0 {
+		return []string{}, nil
+	}
+
 	displayStringsArr, columnAlignments, removedColumns := excludeBlankColumns(displayStringsArr, columnAlignments)
 	padWidths := getPadWidths(displayStringsArr)
 	columnConfigs := make([]ColumnConfig, len(padWidths))