diff --git a/app/controllers/concerns/blacklight/catalog.rb b/app/controllers/concerns/blacklight/catalog.rb
index 7ac9677e78..47b6682c82 100644
--- a/app/controllers/concerns/blacklight/catalog.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/concerns/blacklight/catalog.rb
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ def render_sms_action?(_config, _options)
   end
 
   def search_service
-    search_service_class.new(blacklight_config, search_state.to_h)
+    search_service_class.new(config: blacklight_config, user_params: search_state.to_h)
   end
 
   ##
diff --git a/app/services/blacklight/search_service.rb b/app/services/blacklight/search_service.rb
index 700859a83f..c45c6d87a9 100644
--- a/app/services/blacklight/search_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/blacklight/search_service.rb
@@ -2,17 +2,15 @@
 # SearchService returns search results from the repository
 module Blacklight
   class SearchService
-    def initialize(blacklight_config, user_params = {})
-      @blacklight_config = blacklight_config
+    def initialize(config:, user_params: {}, search_builder_class: config.search_builder_class)
+      @blacklight_config = config
       @user_params = user_params
+      @search_builder_class = search_builder_class
     end
 
-    # TODO: Can this be private?
+    # The blacklight_config is accessed by the search_builder
     attr_reader :blacklight_config
 
-    # Override this method to use a search builder other than the one in the config
-    delegate :search_builder_class, to: :blacklight_config
-
     def search_builder
       search_builder_class.new(self)
     end
@@ -86,11 +84,10 @@ def opensearch_response(field = nil, extra_controller_params = {})
       [user_params[:q], response.documents.flat_map { |doc| doc[field] }.uniq]
     end
 
-    delegate :repository, to: :blacklight_config
-
     private
 
-    attr_reader :user_params
+    attr_reader :search_builder_class, :user_params
+    delegate :repository, to: :blacklight_config
 
     ##
     # The key to use to retrieve the grouped field to display
diff --git a/spec/services/blacklight/search_service_spec.rb b/spec/services/blacklight/search_service_spec.rb
index 1afac86e5f..130e5d9af2 100644
--- a/spec/services/blacklight/search_service_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/blacklight/search_service_spec.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 RSpec.describe Blacklight::SearchService, api: true do
   subject { service }
 
-  let(:service) { described_class.new(blacklight_config, user_params) }
+  let(:service) { described_class.new(config: blacklight_config, user_params: user_params) }
   let(:repository) { Blacklight::Solr::Repository.new(blacklight_config) }
   let(:user_params) { {} }
 
@@ -29,6 +29,24 @@
     service.repository.connection = blacklight_solr
   end
 
+  describe '#search_builder_class' do
+    subject { service.send(:search_builder_class) }
+
+    it 'defaults to the value in the config' do
+      expect(subject).to eq SearchBuilder
+    end
+
+    context 'when the search_builder_class is passed in' do
+      let(:klass) { double("Search builder") }
+
+      let(:service) { described_class.new(config: blacklight_config, user_params: user_params, search_builder_class: klass) }
+
+      it 'uses the passed value' do
+        expect(subject).to eq klass
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   # SPECS FOR SEARCH RESULTS FOR QUERY
   describe 'Search Results', integration: true do
     let(:blacklight_config) { copy_of_catalog_config }