diff --git a/taiga/searches/api.py b/taiga/searches/api.py
index 4f585d91..182e8213 100644
--- a/taiga/searches/api.py
+++ b/taiga/searches/api.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ from rest_framework.response import Response
 from rest_framework import viewsets
 
 from taiga.base import exceptions as excp
+from taiga.base.api.utils import get_object_or_404
 from taiga.projects.userstories.serializers import UserStorySerializer
 from taiga.projects.tasks.serializers import TaskSerializer
 from taiga.projects.issues.serializers import IssueSerializer
@@ -31,15 +32,10 @@ from . import services
 
 class SearchViewSet(viewsets.ViewSet):
     def list(self, request, **kwargs):
-        project_model = apps.get_model("projects", "Project")
-
         text = request.QUERY_PARAMS.get('text', "")
         project_id = request.QUERY_PARAMS.get('project', None)
 
-        try:
-            project = self._get_project(project_id)
-        except (project_model.DoesNotExist, TypeError):
-            raise excp.PermissionDenied({"detail": "Wrong project id"})
+        project = self._get_project(project_id)
 
         result = {}
         if user_has_perm(request.user, "view_us", project):
@@ -56,7 +52,7 @@ class SearchViewSet(viewsets.ViewSet):
 
     def _get_project(self, project_id):
         project_model = apps.get_model("projects", "Project")
-        return project_model.objects.get(pk=project_id)
+        return get_object_or_404(project_model, pk=project_id)
 
     def _search_user_stories(self, project, text):
         queryset = services.search_user_stories(project, text)
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_searches.py b/tests/integration/test_searches.py
index 2eeecf68..a10eb387 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_searches.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_searches.py
@@ -130,3 +130,13 @@ def test_search_text_query_in_my_project(client, searches_initial_data):
     assert len(response.data["tasks"]) == 1
     assert len(response.data["issues"]) == 0
     assert len(response.data["wikipages"]) == 0
+
+
+def test_search_text_query_with_an_invalid_project_id(client, searches_initial_data):
+    data = searches_initial_data
+
+    client.login(data.member1.user)
+
+    response = client.get(reverse("search-list"), {"project": "new", "text": "future"})
+    assert response.status_code == 404
+