anchore · wagoodman · May 29, 2025 · May 29, 2025
diff --git a/cmd/grype/cli/commands/db_search.go b/cmd/grype/cli/commands/db_search.go
@@ -172,15 +172,14 @@ func runDBSearchMatches(opts dbSearchMatchOptions) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if len(rows) != 0 {
-		sb := &strings.Builder{}
-		err = presentDBSearchMatches(opts.Format.Output, rows, sb)
-		bus.Report(sb.String())
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("unable to present search results: %w", err)
-		}
-	} else {
-		bus.Notify("No results found")
+	sb := &strings.Builder{}
+	err = presentDBSearchMatches(opts.Format.Output, rows, sb)
+	rep := sb.String()
+	if rep != "" {
+		bus.Report(rep)
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("unable to present search results: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	return queryErr
@@ -189,6 +188,10 @@ func runDBSearchMatches(opts dbSearchMatchOptions) error {
 func presentDBSearchMatches(outputFormat string, structuredRows dbsearch.Matches, output io.Writer) error {
 	switch outputFormat {
 	case tableOutputFormat:
+		if len(structuredRows) == 0 {
+			bus.Notify("No results found")
+			return nil
+		}
 		rows := renderDBSearchPackagesTableRows(structuredRows.Flatten())
 
 		table := newTable(output)
@@ -197,6 +200,10 @@ func presentDBSearchMatches(outputFormat string, structuredRows dbsearch.Matches
 		table.AppendBulk(rows)
 		table.Render()
 	case jsonOutputFormat:
+		if structuredRows == nil {
+			// always allocate the top level collection
+			structuredRows = dbsearch.Matches{}
+		}
 		enc := json.NewEncoder(output)
 		enc.SetEscapeHTML(false)
 		enc.SetIndent("", " ")

diff --git a/cmd/grype/cli/commands/db_search_vuln.go b/cmd/grype/cli/commands/db_search_vuln.go
@@ -94,12 +94,11 @@ func runDBSearchVulnerabilities(opts dbSearchVulnerabilityOptions) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if len(rows) != 0 {
-		sb := &strings.Builder{}
-		err = presentDBSearchVulnerabilities(opts.Format.Output, rows, sb)
-		bus.Report(sb.String())
-	} else {
-		bus.Notify("No results found")
+	sb := &strings.Builder{}
+	err = presentDBSearchVulnerabilities(opts.Format.Output, rows, sb)
+	rep := sb.String()
+	if rep != "" {
+		bus.Report(rep)
 	}
 
 	return err
@@ -132,12 +131,13 @@ func validateProvidersFilter(reader v6.Reader, providers []string) error {
 }
 
 func presentDBSearchVulnerabilities(outputFormat string, structuredRows []dbsearch.Vulnerability, output io.Writer) error {
-	if len(structuredRows) == 0 {
-		return nil
-	}
-
 	switch outputFormat {
 	case tableOutputFormat:
+		if len(structuredRows) == 0 {
+			bus.Notify("No results found")
+			return nil
+		}
+
 		rows := renderDBSearchVulnerabilitiesTableRows(structuredRows)
 
 		table := newTable(output)
@@ -146,6 +146,10 @@ func presentDBSearchVulnerabilities(outputFormat string, structuredRows []dbsear
 		table.AppendBulk(rows)
 		table.Render()
 	case jsonOutputFormat:
+		if structuredRows == nil {
+			// always allocate the top level collection
+			structuredRows = []dbsearch.Vulnerability{}
+		}
 		enc := json.NewEncoder(output)
 		enc.SetEscapeHTML(false)
 		enc.SetIndent("", " ")