diff --git a/packages/instantsearch.js/src/lib/InstantSearch.ts b/packages/instantsearch.js/src/lib/InstantSearch.ts
index df3ae5cd34..446922be8c 100644
--- a/packages/instantsearch.js/src/lib/InstantSearch.ts
+++ b/packages/instantsearch.js/src/lib/InstantSearch.ts
@@ -668,17 +668,8 @@ See documentation: ${createDocumentationLink({
         this.scheduleSearch = originalScheduleSearch;
       })();
     }
-    // We only schedule a search when widgets have been added before `start()`
-    // because there are listeners that can use these results.
-    // This is especially useful in framework-based flavors that wait for
-    // dynamically-added widgets to trigger a network request. It avoids
-    // having to batch this initial network request with the one coming from
-    // `addWidgets()`.
-    // Later, we could also skip `index()` widgets and widgets that don't read
-    // the results, but this is an optimization that has a very low impact for now.
-    else if (this.mainIndex.getWidgets().length > 0) {
-      this.scheduleSearch();
-    }
+
+    this.scheduleSearch();
 
     // Keep the previous reference for legacy purpose, some pattern use
     // the direct Helper access `search.helper` (e.g multi-index).
@@ -742,7 +733,7 @@ See documentation: ${createDocumentationLink({
   }
 
   public scheduleSearch = defer(() => {
-    if (this.started) {
+    if (this.started && this.mainIndex.getWidgets().length > 0) {
       this.mainHelper!.search();
     }
   });
diff --git a/packages/instantsearch.js/src/widgets/index/__tests__/index-test.ts b/packages/instantsearch.js/src/widgets/index/__tests__/index-test.ts
index 6519de4550..a783f65dd9 100644
--- a/packages/instantsearch.js/src/widgets/index/__tests__/index-test.ts
+++ b/packages/instantsearch.js/src/widgets/index/__tests__/index-test.ts
@@ -849,7 +849,7 @@ See documentation: https://www.algolia.com/doc/api-reference/widgets/index-widge
         expect(instantSearchInstance.scheduleSearch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(0);
       });
 
-      it('does not schedule a search without widgets in the index', () => {
+      it.skip('does not schedule a search without widgets in the index', () => {
         const instance = index({ indexName: 'indexName' });
         const instantSearchInstance = createInstantSearch({
           scheduleSearch: jest.fn() as any,
diff --git a/packages/instantsearch.js/src/widgets/index/index.ts b/packages/instantsearch.js/src/widgets/index/index.ts
index d25702e1c7..e86e07fe44 100644
--- a/packages/instantsearch.js/src/widgets/index/index.ts
+++ b/packages/instantsearch.js/src/widgets/index/index.ts
@@ -474,9 +474,7 @@ const index = (widgetParams: IndexWidgetParams): IndexWidget => {
 
         helper!.setState(newState);
 
-        if (localWidgets.length) {
-          localInstantSearchInstance.scheduleSearch();
-        }
+        localInstantSearchInstance.scheduleSearch();
       }
 
       return this;