diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/tag_list_editor.py b/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/tag_list_editor.py
index 28e8ec7772..026e68494d 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/tag_list_editor.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/tag_list_editor.py
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ def __init__(self, window, cat_name, tag_to_match, data, sorter):
         QDialog.__init__(self, window)
         Ui_TagListEditor.__init__(self)
         self.setupUi(self)
+        self.search_box.setMinimumContentsLength(25)
 
         # Put the category name into the title bar
         t = self.windowTitle()