diff --git a/data/geany.glade b/data/geany.glade
index 7d82ca28da..4af9c4073f 100644
--- a/data/geany.glade
+++ b/data/geany.glade
@@ -8824,7 +8824,7 @@
                   <object class="GtkEntry" id="entry_project_dialog_file_patterns">
                     <property name="visible">True</property>
                     <property name="can-focus">True</property>
-                    <property name="tooltip-text" translatable="yes">Space separated list of file patterns used for the find in files dialog (e.g. *.c *.h)</property>
+                    <property name="tooltip-text" translatable="yes">Space separated list of file patterns used for the Find in Files dialog (e.g. *.c *.h)</property>
                     <property name="invisible-char">•</property>
                     <property name="primary-icon-activatable">False</property>
                   </object>
diff --git a/src/search.c b/src/search.c
index 5ba20f8c20..703ed0c65b 100644
--- a/src/search.c
+++ b/src/search.c
@@ -1123,6 +1123,8 @@ void search_show_find_in_files_dialog_full(const gchar *text, const gchar *dir)
 		g_free(cur_dir);
 	}
 
+	ui_set_search_entry_background(fif_dlg.search_combo, TRUE);
+	ui_set_search_entry_background(fif_dlg.dir_combo, TRUE);
 	update_fif_file_mode_combo();
 	update_file_patterns(fif_dlg.files_mode_combo, fif_dlg.files_combo);
 
@@ -1623,12 +1625,21 @@ on_find_in_files_dialog_response(GtkDialog *dialog, gint response,
 		GtkWidget *dir_combo = fif_dlg.dir_combo;
 		const gchar *utf8_dir =
 			gtk_entry_get_text(GTK_ENTRY(gtk_bin_get_child(GTK_BIN(dir_combo))));
+		gchar *locale_dir = utils_get_locale_from_utf8(utf8_dir);
 		GeanyEncodingIndex enc_idx =
 			ui_encodings_combo_box_get_active_encoding(GTK_COMBO_BOX(fif_dlg.encoding_combo));
 
-		if (G_UNLIKELY(EMPTY(utf8_dir)))
-			ui_set_statusbar(FALSE, _("Invalid directory for find in files."));
-		else if (!EMPTY(search_text))
+		if (!g_file_test(locale_dir, G_FILE_TEST_IS_DIR))
+		{
+			ui_set_statusbar(FALSE, _("Invalid directory for Find in Files."));
+			ui_set_search_entry_background(dir_combo, FALSE);
+		}
+		else if (EMPTY(search_text))
+		{
+			ui_set_statusbar(FALSE, _("No text to find."));
+			ui_set_search_entry_background(search_combo, FALSE);
+		}
+		else
 		{
 			GString *opts = get_grep_options();
 			const gchar *enc = (enc_idx == GEANY_ENCODING_UTF_8) ? NULL :
@@ -1643,8 +1654,7 @@ on_find_in_files_dialog_response(GtkDialog *dialog, gint response,
 			}
 			g_string_free(opts, TRUE);
 		}
-		else
-			ui_set_statusbar(FALSE, _("No text to find."));
+		g_free(locale_dir);
 	}
 	else
 		gtk_widget_hide(fif_dlg.dialog);
diff --git a/src/ui_utils.c b/src/ui_utils.c
index 60787c8f86..68d12f0ff8 100644
--- a/src/ui_utils.c
+++ b/src/ui_utils.c
@@ -1101,8 +1101,13 @@ void ui_document_show_hide(GeanyDocument *doc)
 }
 
 
+/* success = FALSE indicates an error for widget */
 void ui_set_search_entry_background(GtkWidget *widget, gboolean success)
 {
+	// set the entry, not just the button
+	if (GTK_IS_COMBO_BOX(widget))
+		widget = gtk_bin_get_child(GTK_BIN(widget));
+
 	gtk_widget_set_name(widget, success ? NULL : "geany-search-entry-no-match");
 }