diff --git a/plugins/web-search/web-search.plugin.zsh b/plugins/web-search/web-search.plugin.zsh
index 0a2b8809e..229948894 100644
--- a/plugins/web-search/web-search.plugin.zsh
+++ b/plugins/web-search/web-search.plugin.zsh
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ function web_search() {
   if [[ $# -gt 1 ]]; then
     # build search url:
     # join arguments passed with '+', then append to search engine URL
-    url="${urls[$1]}${(j:+:)@[2,-1]}"
+    url="${urls[$1]}$(omz_urlencode ${@[2,-1]})"
   else
     # build main page url:
     # split by '/', then rejoin protocol (1) and domain (2) parts with '//'