diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/main.py b/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/main.py
index b4bb9b67f9..469313d547 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/main.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/viewer/main.py
@@ -418,6 +418,7 @@ class EbookViewer(MainWindow):
 
     def lookup(self, word):
         from urllib import quote
+        word = word.replace(u'\u00ad', '')
         word = quote(word.encode('utf-8'))
         lang = canonicalize_lang(self.view.current_language) or get_lang() or 'en'
         try: