diff --git a/include/text.php b/include/text.php
index 7908ca9f22..a47e352bae 100644
--- a/include/text.php
+++ b/include/text.php
@@ -281,10 +281,9 @@ function paginate_data(&$a, $count=null) {
 
 	if (($a->page_offset != "") AND !strstr($stripped, "&offset="))
 		$stripped .= "&offset=".urlencode($a->page_offset);
-
-	if (strpos($stripped, "?") === 0) {
-		$pos = strpos($stripped, "&");
-		$stripped = substr($stripped, 0, $pos)."?".substr($stripped, $pos + 1);
+	if (!strpos($stripped, "?")) {
+		if ($pos = strpos($stripped, "&"))
+			$stripped = substr($stripped, 0, $pos)."?".substr($stripped, $pos + 1);
 	}
 
 	$url = $a->get_baseurl() . '/' . $stripped;