diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/cloudfoundry/identity/uaa/resources/jdbc/SimpleSearchQueryConverter.java b/server/src/main/java/org/cloudfoundry/identity/uaa/resources/jdbc/SimpleSearchQueryConverter.java
index 368eb3326f9..b1774ba674a 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/cloudfoundry/identity/uaa/resources/jdbc/SimpleSearchQueryConverter.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/cloudfoundry/identity/uaa/resources/jdbc/SimpleSearchQueryConverter.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import org.cloudfoundry.identity.uaa.util.AlphanumericRandomValueStringGenerator;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+import org.springframework.lang.Nullable;
 import org.springframework.util.LinkedMultiValueMap;
 import org.springframework.util.MultiValueMap;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
@@ -125,9 +126,12 @@ private String generateParameterPrefix(String filter) {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @return the WHERE and (optional) ORDER BY clauses WITHOUT the "WHERE" keyword in the beginning
+     */
     private String getWhereClause(
-            final String filter,
-            final String sortBy,
+            @Nullable final String filter,
+            @Nullable final String sortBy,
             final boolean ascending,
             final Map<String, Object> values,
             final AttributeNameMapper mapper,