diff --git a/frontend/src/components/projects/projectCardPaginator.js b/frontend/src/components/projects/projectCardPaginator.js
index e3da5d7a0a..c5be0fd17a 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/projects/projectCardPaginator.js
+++ b/frontend/src/components/projects/projectCardPaginator.js
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ export const ProjectCardPaginator = ({ status, pagination, fullProjectsQuery, se
       );
   };
 
-  if (!apiIsFetched) {
+  // do not show pagination when the data is being fetched or it has zero results
+  if (!apiIsFetched || !pagination?.total) {
     return null;
   }
   const activePage = (apiIsFetched && pagination?.page) || 1;