diff --git a/packages/server/src/automations/tests/branching.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/automations/tests/branching.spec.ts
index bf9b9ce3f8..70aa4cbaa7 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/automations/tests/branching.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/automations/tests/branching.spec.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 import * as automation from "../index"
-import { Table, AutomationStatus } from "@budibase/types"
+import {
+  Table,
+  AutomationStatus,
+  AutomationStepStatus,
+  EmptyFilterOption,
+} from "@budibase/types"
 import { createAutomationBuilder } from "./utilities/AutomationTestBuilder"
 import TestConfiguration from "../../tests/utilities/TestConfiguration"
 
@@ -280,4 +285,23 @@ describe("Branching automations", () => {
 
     expect(results.steps[2].outputs.message).toContain("Special user")
   })
+
+  it("should not fail with empty conditions", async () => {
+    const results = await createAutomationBuilder(config)
+      .onAppAction()
+      .branch({
+        specialBranch: {
+          steps: stepBuilder => stepBuilder.serverLog({ text: "Hello!" }),
+          condition: {
+            onEmptyFilter: EmptyFilterOption.RETURN_NONE,
+          },
+        },
+      })
+      .test({ fields: { test_trigger: true } })
+
+    expect(results.steps[0].outputs.success).toEqual(false)
+    expect(results.steps[0].outputs.status).toEqual(
+      AutomationStatus.NO_CONDITION_MET
+    )
+  })
 })
diff --git a/packages/server/src/threads/automation.ts b/packages/server/src/threads/automation.ts
index 762da1cbc1..def2ab4201 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/threads/automation.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/threads/automation.ts
@@ -367,6 +367,8 @@ class Orchestrator {
         if (e.errno === "ETIME") {
           span?.addTags({ timedOut: true })
           console.warn(`Automation execution timed out after ${timeout}ms`)
+        } else {
+          throw e
         }
       }
 
diff --git a/packages/types/src/sdk/search.ts b/packages/types/src/sdk/search.ts
index 992e9961d4..99c3658fa8 100644
--- a/packages/types/src/sdk/search.ts
+++ b/packages/types/src/sdk/search.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { Row, DocumentType, Table, Datasource } from "../documents"
 import { SortOrder, SortType } from "../api"
 import { Knex } from "knex"
 import { Aggregation } from "./row"
+import _ from "lodash"
 
 export enum BasicOperator {
   EQUAL = "equal",
@@ -83,7 +84,7 @@ type RangeFilter = Record<
 type LogicalFilter = { conditions: SearchFilters[] }
 
 export function isLogicalFilter(filter: any): filter is LogicalFilter {
-  return "conditions" in filter
+  return _.isPlainObject(filter) && "conditions" in filter
 }
 
 export type AnySearchFilter = BasicFilter | ArrayFilter | RangeFilter