diff --git a/server/src/dtos/search.dto.ts b/server/src/dtos/search.dto.ts
index ac7bf4feb2..5f8b018afe 100644
--- a/server/src/dtos/search.dto.ts
+++ b/server/src/dtos/search.dto.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { PropertyLifecycle } from 'src/decorators';
 import { AlbumResponseDto } from 'src/dtos/album.dto';
 import { AssetResponseDto } from 'src/dtos/asset-response.dto';
 import { AssetOrder, AssetType, AssetVisibility } from 'src/enum';
-import { Optional, ValidateBoolean, ValidateDate, ValidateEnum, ValidateUUID } from 'src/validation';
+import { Optional, ValidateBoolean, ValidateDate, ValidateEnum, ValidateString, ValidateUUID } from 'src/validation';
 
 class BaseSearchDto {
   @ValidateUUID({ optional: true, nullable: true })
@@ -144,9 +144,7 @@ export class MetadataSearchDto extends RandomSearchDto {
   @Optional()
   deviceAssetId?: string;
 
-  @IsString()
-  @IsNotEmpty()
-  @Optional()
+  @ValidateString({ optional: true, trim: true })
   description?: string;
 
   @IsString()
@@ -154,9 +152,7 @@ export class MetadataSearchDto extends RandomSearchDto {
   @Optional()
   checksum?: string;
 
-  @IsString()
-  @IsNotEmpty()
-  @Optional()
+  @ValidateString({ optional: true, trim: true })
   originalFileName?: string;
 
   @IsString()
@@ -190,16 +186,12 @@ export class MetadataSearchDto extends RandomSearchDto {
 }
 
 export class StatisticsSearchDto extends BaseSearchDto {
-  @IsString()
-  @IsNotEmpty()
-  @Optional()
+  @ValidateString({ optional: true, trim: true })
   description?: string;
 }
 
 export class SmartSearchDto extends BaseSearchWithResultsDto {
-  @IsString()
-  @IsNotEmpty()
-  @Optional()
+  @ValidateString({ optional: true, trim: true })
   query?: string;
 
   @ValidateUUID({ optional: true })
diff --git a/server/src/validation.ts b/server/src/validation.ts
index e583f6a44e..6d4bbfbe36 100644
--- a/server/src/validation.ts
+++ b/server/src/validation.ts
@@ -211,6 +211,18 @@ export const ValidateDate = (options?: DateOptions & ApiPropertyOptions) => {
   return applyDecorators(...decorators);
 };
 
+type StringOptions = { optional?: boolean; nullable?: boolean; trim?: boolean };
+export const ValidateString = (options?: StringOptions & ApiPropertyOptions) => {
+  const { optional, nullable, trim, ...apiPropertyOptions } = options || {};
+  const decorators = [ApiProperty(apiPropertyOptions), IsString(), optional ? Optional({ nullable }) : IsNotEmpty()];
+
+  if (trim) {
+    decorators.push(Transform(({ value }: { value: string }) => value?.trim()));
+  }
+
+  return applyDecorators(...decorators);
+};
+
 type BooleanOptions = { optional?: boolean; nullable?: boolean };
 export const ValidateBoolean = (options?: BooleanOptions & ApiPropertyOptions) => {
   const { optional, nullable, ...apiPropertyOptions } = options || {};