diff --git a/configure-searxng-safesearch.sh b/configure-searxng-safesearch.sh
index 44cc799..ad0ea00 100755
--- a/configure-searxng-safesearch.sh
+++ b/configure-searxng-safesearch.sh
@@ -197,6 +197,9 @@ set -u
 } > "$SETTINGS"
 
 ok "Updated settings.yml  (safe_search: $SAFE_INT)"
+# bash < 4.4: ${#assoc[@]} on an empty declared array throws "unbound variable"
+# under set -u — disable nounset for the rest of the reporting section
+set +u
 if [[ ${#DISABLE_MAP[@]} -gt 0 ]]; then
   info "Disabled (${#DISABLE_MAP[@]}): $(printf '%s, ' "${!DISABLE_MAP[@]}" | sed 's/, $//')"
 fi