diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/api-report.md b/plugins/catalog-backend/api-report.md
index 6c8c9a8f82..6660912dda 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/api-report.md
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/api-report.md
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ import { Router } from 'express';
 import { ScmIntegrationRegistry } from '@backstage/integration';
 import { ScmIntegrations } from '@backstage/integration';
 import { UrlReader } from '@backstage/backend-common';
-import { UserEntity } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 import { Validators } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 
 // Warning: (ae-missing-release-tag) "AddLocationResult" is exported by the package, but it is missing a release tag (@alpha, @beta, @public, or @internal)
@@ -765,10 +764,6 @@ export class DefaultCatalogCollator implements DocumentCollator {
     },
   ): DefaultCatalogCollator;
   // (undocumented)
-  protected getDocumentText(entity: Entity): string;
-  // (undocumented)
-  protected isUserEntity(entity: Entity): entity is UserEntity;
-  // (undocumented)
   protected locationTemplate: string;
   // (undocumented)
   readonly type: string;
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.ts
index 5458b9054a..751ea30832 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.ts
@@ -81,16 +81,17 @@ export class DefaultCatalogCollator implements DocumentCollator {
     return formatted.toLowerCase();
   }
 
-  protected isUserEntity(entity: Entity): entity is UserEntity {
+  private isUserEntity(entity: Entity): entity is UserEntity {
     return entity.kind === 'User';
   }
 
-  protected getDocumentText(entity: Entity): string {
+  private getDocumentText(entity: Entity): string {
     let documentText = entity.metadata.description || '';
     if (this.isUserEntity(entity)) {
-      if (entity.spec?.profile?.displayName && entity.metadata.description) {
+      if (entity.spec?.profile?.displayName && documentText) {
         // combine displayName and description
-        documentText = `${entity.spec?.profile?.displayName} : ${entity.metadata.description}`;
+        const displayName = entity.spec?.profile?.displayName;
+        documentText = displayName.concat(' : ', documentText);
       } else {
         documentText = entity.spec?.profile?.displayName || documentText;
       }