diff --git a/phpBB/includes/search/fulltext_sphinx.php b/phpBB/includes/search/fulltext_sphinx.php
index 2f6be20703..37e9240c7b 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/search/fulltext_sphinx.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/search/fulltext_sphinx.php
@@ -194,13 +194,13 @@ class phpbb_search_fulltext_sphinx
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Returns the common_words array
+	 * Returns an empty array as there are no common_words
 	 *
 	 * @return array common words that are ignored by search backend
 	 */
 	public function get_common_words()
 	{
-		return $this->common_words;
+		return array();
 	}
 
 	/**