diff --git a/app/controllers/api/v2/search_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/v2/search_controller.rb
index e384ecbaf1..4d20aeb10f 100644
--- a/app/controllers/api/v2/search_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/api/v2/search_controller.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ class Api::V2::SearchController < Api::BaseController
   RESULTS_LIMIT = 20
 
   before_action -> { authorize_if_got_token! :read, :'read:search' }
+  before_action :validate_search_params!
 
   def index
     @search = Search.new(search_results)
@@ -18,12 +19,22 @@ class Api::V2::SearchController < Api::BaseController
 
   private
 
+  def validate_search_params!
+    params.require(:q)
+
+    return if user_signed_in?
+
+    return render json: { error: 'Search queries pagination is not supported without authentication' }, status: 401 if params[:offset].present?
+
+    render json: { error: 'Search queries that resolve remote resources are not supported without authentication' }, status: 401 if truthy_param?(:resolve)
+  end
+
   def search_results
     SearchService.new.call(
       params[:q],
       current_account,
       limit_param(RESULTS_LIMIT),
-      search_params.merge(resolve: user_signed_in? ? truthy_param?(:resolve) : false, exclude_unreviewed: truthy_param?(:exclude_unreviewed))
+      search_params.merge(resolve: truthy_param?(:resolve), exclude_unreviewed: truthy_param?(:exclude_unreviewed))
     )
   end
 
diff --git a/app/services/account_search_service.rb b/app/services/account_search_service.rb
index 4dcae20ebf..35b2e05f57 100644
--- a/app/services/account_search_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/account_search_service.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 class AccountSearchService < BaseService
   attr_reader :query, :limit, :offset, :options, :account
 
+  # Min. number of characters to look for non-exact matches
+  MIN_QUERY_LENGTH = 5
+
   def call(query, account = nil, options = {})
     @acct_hint = query&.start_with?('@')
     @query     = query&.strip&.gsub(/\A@/, '')
@@ -135,6 +138,8 @@ class AccountSearchService < BaseService
   end
 
   def limit_for_non_exact_results
+    return 0 if @account.nil? && query.size < MIN_QUERY_LENGTH
+
     if exact_match?
       limit - 1
     else
diff --git a/spec/controllers/api/v2/search_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/api/v2/search_controller_spec.rb
index fa20e1e51f..d417ea58ca 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/api/v2/search_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/api/v2/search_controller_spec.rb
@@ -5,18 +5,64 @@ require 'rails_helper'
 RSpec.describe Api::V2::SearchController, type: :controller do
   render_views
 
-  let(:user)  { Fabricate(:user) }
-  let(:token) { Fabricate(:accessible_access_token, resource_owner_id: user.id, scopes: 'read:search') }
+  context 'with token' do
+    let(:user)  { Fabricate(:user) }
+    let(:token) { Fabricate(:accessible_access_token, resource_owner_id: user.id, scopes: 'read:search') }
 
-  before do
-    allow(controller).to receive(:doorkeeper_token) { token }
+    before do
+      allow(controller).to receive(:doorkeeper_token) { token }
+    end
+
+    describe 'GET #index' do
+      before do
+        get :index, params: { q: 'test' }
+      end
+
+      it 'returns http success' do
+        expect(response).to have_http_status(200)
+      end
+    end
   end
 
-  describe 'GET #index' do
-    it 'returns http success' do
-      get :index, params: { q: 'test' }
+  context 'without token' do
+    describe 'GET #index' do
+      let(:search_params) {}
+
+      before do
+        get :index, params: search_params
+      end
+
+      context 'with a `q` shorter than 5 characters' do
+        let(:search_params) { { q: 'test' } }
+
+        it 'returns http success' do
+          expect(response).to have_http_status(200)
+        end
+      end
+
+      context 'with a `q` equal to or longer than 5 characters' do
+        let(:search_params) { { q: 'test1' } }
+
+        it 'returns http success' do
+          expect(response).to have_http_status(200)
+        end
+
+        context 'with truthy `resolve`' do
+          let(:search_params) { { q: 'test1', resolve: '1' } }
+
+          it 'returns http unauthorized' do
+            expect(response).to have_http_status(401)
+          end
+        end
+
+        context 'with `offset`' do
+          let(:search_params) { { q: 'test1', offset: 1 } }
 
-      expect(response).to have_http_status(200)
+          it 'returns http unauthorized' do
+            expect(response).to have_http_status(401)
+          end
+        end
+      end
     end
   end
 end