diff --git a/src/nnn.c b/src/nnn.c
index 3d866bf4..1ab79d20 100644
--- a/src/nnn.c
+++ b/src/nnn.c
@@ -3321,9 +3321,9 @@ static int filterentries(char *path, char *lastname)
 		 * - new matches can only be a subset of current matches.
 		 */
 		/* ndents = total; */
-
-		if (matches(pln) == -1) {
-			showfilter(ln);
+		r = matches(pln);
+		if (r <= 0) {
+			!r ? unget_wch(KEY_BACKSPACE) : showfilter(ln);
 			continue;
 		}