diff --git a/ctables/ctable_search.c b/ctables/ctable_search.c
index 8707cba..12b9b1e 100644
--- a/ctables/ctable_search.c
+++ b/ctables/ctable_search.c
@@ -618,6 +618,11 @@ ctable_SearchAction (Tcl_Interp *interp, CTable *ctable, CTableSearch *search, c
 	  case CTABLE_SEARCH_ACTION_ARRAY_WITH_NULLS:
 	  case CTABLE_SEARCH_ACTION_ARRAY: {
 	    int result = TCL_OK;
+	    char *arrayName = Tcl_GetString(search->rowVarNameObj);
+
+	    // Clear array before filling it in. Ignore failure because it's
+	    // OK for the array not to exist at this point.
+	    Tcl_UnsetVar2(interp, arrayName, NULL, 0);
 
 	    if (search->nRetrieveFields < 0) {
 	       int i;
@@ -2313,6 +2318,14 @@ ctable_SetupSearch (Tcl_Interp *interp, CTable *ctable, Tcl_Obj *CONST objv[], i
 	}
     }
 
+    // If we're filling in an array, make sure the array name is not a variable
+    if (search->action == CTABLE_SEARCH_ACTION_ARRAY_WITH_NULLS || search->action == CTABLE_SEARCH_ACTION_ARRAY) {
+	char *arrayName = Tcl_GetString(search->rowVarNameObj);
+	if (Tcl_SetVar2(interp, arrayName, "...", "dummy", TCL_LEAVE_ERR_MSG) == NULL) {
+	    goto errorReturn;
+	}
+    }
+
     // If we have a code body, make sure we're not doing a write_tabsep, make
     // sure we have a row variable or a key variable, and that we're not
     // leaving the search action "none"
diff --git a/ctables/tests/serious-tests-body.tcl b/ctables/tests/serious-tests-body.tcl
index 60777c5..9b93ae6 100644
--- a/ctables/tests/serious-tests-body.tcl
+++ b/ctables/tests/serious-tests-body.tcl
@@ -388,10 +388,15 @@ puts "ok"
 
 puts -nonewline "testing 'search with -array'..."
 unset -nocomplain foo
+set foo(probe2) dummy
 t search -compare {{= name {Brock Sampson}}} -array foo -fields {id dad} -code {
+    if [info exists foo(probe)] {
+	error "test array not cleared"
+    }
     if {[array names foo] != [list id]} {
         error "expected only 'id' element in test array"
     }
+    set foo(probe) dummy
 }
 puts "ok"