diff --git a/admin/preferences.pl b/admin/preferences.pl
index 7c5b3c01f8..db91e76e7d 100755
--- a/admin/preferences.pl
+++ b/admin/preferences.pl
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ use strict;
 use warnings;
 
 use CGI;
-
 use C4::Auth;
 use C4::Context;
 use C4::Koha;
@@ -296,8 +295,7 @@ if ( $op eq 'save' ) {
 my @TABS;
 
 if ( $op eq 'search' ) {
-    my $searchfield = $input->param('searchfield');
-    utf8::decode($searchfield);
+    my $searchfield = $input->param( 'searchfield' );
 
     $searchfield =~ s/\p{IsC}//g;
     $searchfield =~ s/\s+/ /;