diff --git a/toxygen/list_items.py b/toxygen/list_items.py
index 5a62cb6..ab8d0b4 100644
--- a/toxygen/list_items.py
+++ b/toxygen/list_items.py
@@ -190,8 +190,9 @@ class MessageItem(QtGui.QWidget):
         self.message.setFixedHeight(self.height())
         self.name.setPixmap(pixmap.scaled(30, 30, QtCore.Qt.KeepAspectRatio, QtCore.Qt.SmoothTransformation))
 
-    def select_text(self, text=''):
+    def select_text(self, text):
         tmp = self.message.toHtml()
+        text = h.escape(text)
         strings = re.findall(text, tmp, flags=re.IGNORECASE)
         for s in strings:
             tmp = self.replace_all(tmp, s)
@@ -209,7 +210,7 @@ class MessageItem(QtGui.QWidget):
             if rgt < lgt:
                 i += rgt + 1
                 continue
-            sub = '<font color="red">{}</font>'.format(substring)
+            sub = '<font color="red"><b>{}</b></font>'.format(substring)
             text = text[:i] + sub + text[i + l:]
             i += len(sub)
         return text
diff --git a/toxygen/mainscreen_widgets.py b/toxygen/mainscreen_widgets.py
index 1910cb7..e5b406e 100644
--- a/toxygen/mainscreen_widgets.py
+++ b/toxygen/mainscreen_widgets.py
@@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ class SearchScreen(QtGui.QWidget):
         Profile.get_instance().update()
         text = self.search_text.text()
         friend = Profile.get_instance().get_curr_friend()
-        if text and friend:
+        if text and friend and util.is_re_valid(text):
             index = friend.search_string(text)
             self.load_messages(index)
 
diff --git a/toxygen/util.py b/toxygen/util.py
index b997873..beeb3a9 100644
--- a/toxygen/util.py
+++ b/toxygen/util.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import os
 import time
 import shutil
 import sys
+import re
 
 program_version = '0.2.7'
 
@@ -69,6 +70,15 @@ def is_64_bit():
     return sys.maxsize > 2 ** 32
 
 
+def is_re_valid(regex):
+    try:
+        re.compile(regex)
+    except re.error:
+        return False
+    else:
+        return True
+
+
 class Singleton:
     _instance = None