diff --git src/bp-members/bp-members-template.php src/bp-members/bp-members-template.php
index dbce029..7cc76ae 100644
--- src/bp-members/bp-members-template.php
+++ src/bp-members/bp-members-template.php
@@ -1023,11 +1023,17 @@ function bp_member_hidden_fields() {
  */
 function bp_directory_members_search_form() {
 
-	$default_search_value = bp_get_search_default_text( 'members' );
-	$search_value         = !empty( $_REQUEST['s'] ) ? stripslashes( $_REQUEST['s'] ) : $default_search_value;
+	$default_search_value   = bp_get_search_default_text( 'members' );
+	$search_value           = $default_search_value;
+	$search_field_attribute = 'placeholder="' . esc_attr( $search_value ) . '"';
+
+	if ( ! empty( $_REQUEST['s'] ) ) {
+		$search_value = stripslashes( $_REQUEST['s'] );
+		$search_field_attribute = 'value="' . esc_attr( $search_value ) . '"';
+	}
 
 	$search_form_html = '<form action="" method="get" id="search-members-form">
-		<label><input type="text" name="s" id="members_search" placeholder="'. esc_attr( $search_value ) .'" /></label>
+		<label><input type="text" name="s" id="members_search" ' . $search_field_attribute . ' /></label>
 		<input type="submit" id="members_search_submit" name="members_search_submit" value="' . __( 'Search', 'buddypress' ) . '" />
 	</form>';
 
diff --git src/bp-templates/bp-legacy/js/buddypress.js src/bp-templates/bp-legacy/js/buddypress.js
index 1107c9f..062fb58 100644
--- src/bp-templates/bp-legacy/js/buddypress.js
+++ src/bp-templates/bp-legacy/js/buddypress.js
@@ -940,7 +940,7 @@ jq(document).ready( function() {
 
 			// Search terms
 			if ( jq('div.dir-search input').length ) {
-				search_terms =  jq('.dir-search input').prop('placeholder') ? jq('.dir-search input').prop('placeholder') : jq('.dir-search input').val();
+				search_terms =  jq('.dir-search input').val();
 			}
 
 			// The Group Members page has a different selector for