diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 86c05721..d5843b61 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -117,6 +117,9 @@ ENV/
 env.bak/
 venv.bak/
 
+# VS Code config
+.vscode/
+
 # Spyder project settings
 .spyderproject
 .spyproject
diff --git a/lute/bing/routes.py b/lute/bing/routes.py
index 92eac938..fa60d267 100644
--- a/lute/bing/routes.py
+++ b/lute/bing/routes.py
@@ -7,12 +7,43 @@
 import hashlib
 import re
 import urllib.request
-from flask import Blueprint, request, Response, render_template, jsonify, current_app
+from flask import (
+    Blueprint,
+    request,
+    Response,
+    render_template,
+    jsonify,
+    current_app,
+    url_for,
+)
 
 
 bp = Blueprint("bing", __name__, url_prefix="/bing")
 
 
+@bp.route(
+    "/search_page/<int:langid>/<string:text>/<string:searchstring>", methods=["GET"]
+)
+def bing_search_page(langid, text, searchstring):
+    """
+    Load initial empty search page, passing real URL for subsequent ajax call to get images.
+
+    Sometimes Bing image searches block or fail, so providing the initial empty search page
+    lets the user know work is in progress.  The user can therefore interact with the page
+    immediately. The template for this route then makes an ajax call to the "bing_search()"
+    method below which actually does the search.
+    """
+
+    # Create URL for bing_search and pass into template.
+    search_url = url_for(
+        "bing.bing_search", langid=langid, text=text, searchstring=searchstring
+    )
+
+    return render_template(
+        "imagesearch/index.html", langid=langid, text=text, search_url=search_url
+    )
+
+
 @bp.route("/search/<int:langid>/<string:text>/<string:searchstring>", methods=["GET"])
 def bing_search(langid, text, searchstring):
     "Do an image search."
@@ -36,7 +67,10 @@ def bing_search(langid, text, searchstring):
             content = s.read().decode("utf-8")
     except urllib.error.URLError as e:
         content = ""
-        error_msg = e.reason
+        error_msg = str(e.reason)
+    except Exception as e:  # pylint: disable=broad-exception-caught
+        content = ""
+        error_msg = str(e)
 
     # Sample data returned by bing image search:
     # <img class="mimg vimgld" ... data-src="https:// ...">
@@ -62,13 +96,13 @@ def build_struct(image):
     # Also bing seems to throttle images if the count is higher (??).
     images = images[:25]
 
-    return render_template(
-        "imagesearch/index.html",
-        langid=langid,
-        text=text,
-        images=images,
-        error_message=error_msg,
-    )
+    ret = {
+        "langid": langid,
+        "text": text,
+        "images": images,
+        "error_message": error_msg,
+    }
+    return jsonify(ret)
 
 
 def _get_dir_and_filename(langid, text):
diff --git a/lute/static/js/dict-tabs.js b/lute/static/js/dict-tabs.js
index 6c0624f0..80ceabbc 100644
--- a/lute/static/js/dict-tabs.js
+++ b/lute/static/js/dict-tabs.js
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ class ImageLookupButton extends GeneralLookupButton {
 
       const raw_bing_url = 'https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=[LUTE]&form=HDRSC2&first=1&tsc=ImageHoverTitle';
       const binghash = raw_bing_url.replace('https://www.bing.com/images/search?', '');
-      const url = `/bing/search/${LookupButton.LANG_ID}/${encodeURIComponent(use_text)}/${encodeURIComponent(binghash)}`;
+      const url = `/bing/search_page/${LookupButton.LANG_ID}/${encodeURIComponent(use_text)}/${encodeURIComponent(binghash)}`;
 
       iframe.setAttribute("src", url);
     };  // end handler
diff --git a/lute/templates/imagesearch/index.html b/lute/templates/imagesearch/index.html
index ef5c21ff..82890ba8 100644
--- a/lute/templates/imagesearch/index.html
+++ b/lute/templates/imagesearch/index.html
@@ -26,25 +26,12 @@
         then paste from your clipboard.
       </p>
 
-      {% for image in images %}
-      <span class="initial"
-            style="margin: 2px; display:inline-block;"
-            onmouseover="highlight_image(this);"
-            onmouseout="un_highlight_image(this);"
-            onclick='save_image_locally("{{ image['src'] }}", {{ langid }}, "{{ text }}")'
-            >
-        {{ image['html'] | safe }}
-      </span>
-      {% endfor %}
-
-      {% if error_message != "" %}
-      <p><i>Error contacting image server: {{ error_message }}</i></p>
-      {% endif %}
+      <p id="image_search_feedback"><i>Searching ...</i></p>
+
     </div>
   </body>
 
   <script>
-
     let _update_term_form_image = function(filename, new_url) {
       // Well, this took **far** too long to figure out ...
       let fr = window.parent.frames['wordframe'];
@@ -141,6 +128,61 @@
 
     });
 
+    $(document).ready(function() {
+      const searchUrl = '{{ search_url }}';
+      const container = document.getElementById('termimagesearch');
+
+      $.ajax({
+        url: searchUrl,
+        type: 'GET',
+        dataType: 'json',
+        success: function(data) {
+          if (data.error_message !== "") {
+            const msg = `Error: ${data.error_message}`;
+            console.error(msg);
+            $("#image_search_feedback").text(msg);
+            return;
+          }
+
+          $("#image_search_feedback").hide();
+          if (data.images.length === 0) {
+            const p = document.createElement('p');
+            p.textContent = 'No images found.';
+            container.appendChild(p);
+            return;
+          }
+
+          // Make Bing API call for images asynchronously
+          // This avoids blocking the page load
+          data.images.forEach(function(item) {
+            const imgWrapper = create_imageWrapper_element(item.src, data.langid, data.text);
+            container.appendChild(imgWrapper);
+          });
+        },
+        error: function(xhr, status, error) {
+          const msg = `Error ${error}; ${status}; ${xhr.responseText}`;
+          console.error(msg);
+          $("#image_search_feedback").val(msg);
+        }
+      });
+    });
+
+    function create_imageWrapper_element(src, langid, text) {
+      const imgWrapper = document.createElement('span');
+      imgWrapper.classList.add('initial');
+      imgWrapper.style.margin = '2px';
+      imgWrapper.style.display = 'inline-block';
+      imgWrapper.onmouseover = () => highlight_image(imgWrapper);
+      imgWrapper.onmouseout = () => un_highlight_image(imgWrapper);
+      imgWrapper.onclick = () => save_image_locally(src, langid, text);
+
+      const img = document.createElement('img');
+      img.src = src;
+      
+      imgWrapper.appendChild(img);
+
+      return imgWrapper;
+    }
   </script>
 
 </html>