diff --git a/framework/helpers/BaseStringHelper.php b/framework/helpers/BaseStringHelper.php
index 749f92f79cd..8da0cd81ab5 100644
--- a/framework/helpers/BaseStringHelper.php
+++ b/framework/helpers/BaseStringHelper.php
@@ -330,7 +330,11 @@ public static function explode($string, $delimiter = ',', $trim = true, $skipEmp
      */
     public static function countWords($string)
     {
-        return count(preg_split('/\s+/u', $string, 0, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY));
+        $keywords = preg_split('/\s+/u', $string, 0, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY);
+        if ($keywords !== false) {
+            return count($keywords);
+        }
+        return 0;
     }
 
     /**