diff --git a/cps/db.py b/cps/db.py
index 3eec6454..7e908476 100644
--- a/cps/db.py
+++ b/cps/db.py
@@ -619,9 +619,10 @@ class CalibreDB():
             randm = false()
         off = int(int(pagesize) * (page - 1))
         query = self.session.query(database) \
-            .join(*join, isouter=True) \
             .filter(db_filter) \
             .filter(self.common_filters(allow_show_archived))
+        if len(join):
+            query = query.join(*join, isouter=True)
         entries = list()
         pagination = list()
         try:
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 04aaa000..ca11eff9 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ iso-639>=0.4.5,<0.5.0
 PyPDF3>=1.0.0,<1.0.4
 pytz>=2016.10
 requests>=2.11.1,<2.25.0
-SQLAlchemy>=1.3.0,<1.4.0
+SQLAlchemy>=1.3.0,<1.5.0
 tornado>=4.1,<6.2
 Wand>=0.4.4,<0.7.0
 unidecode>=0.04.19,<1.2.0