diff --git a/zulip_bots/zulip_bots/bots/google_search/google_search.py b/zulip_bots/zulip_bots/bots/google_search/google_search.py
index dc981d5e..007ffc02 100644
--- a/zulip_bots/zulip_bots/bots/google_search/google_search.py
+++ b/zulip_bots/zulip_bots/bots/google_search/google_search.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import logging
 from typing import Dict, List
 
 import requests
-from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
+from bs4 import BeautifulSoup, Tag
 
 from zulip_bots.lib import BotHandler
 
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ def google_search(keywords: str) -> List[Dict[str, str]]:
     soup = BeautifulSoup(page.text, "lxml")
 
     # Gets all search URLs
-    anchors = soup.find(id="search").findAll("a")
+    search = soup.find(id="search")
+    assert isinstance(search, Tag)
+    anchors = search.findAll("a")
     results = []
 
     for a in anchors:
diff --git a/zulip_bots/zulip_bots/bots/google_search/test_google_search.py b/zulip_bots/zulip_bots/bots/google_search/test_google_search.py
index c6f0b4e0..950188bc 100644
--- a/zulip_bots/zulip_bots/bots/google_search/test_google_search.py
+++ b/zulip_bots/zulip_bots/bots/google_search/test_google_search.py
@@ -32,9 +32,7 @@ class TestGoogleSearchBot(BotTestCase, DefaultTests):
 
     def test_attribute_error(self) -> None:
         with self.mock_http_conversation("test_attribute_error"), patch("logging.exception"):
-            self.verify_reply(
-                "test", "Error: Search failed. 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'findAll'."
-            )
+            self.verify_reply("test", "Error: Search failed. .")
 
     # Makes sure cached results, irrelevant links, or empty results are not displayed
     def test_ignore_links(self) -> None: