diff --git a/lisp/gnus/gnus-group.el b/lisp/gnus/gnus-group.el
index c8b97c0852..ec3a49344e 100644
--- a/lisp/gnus/gnus-group.el
+++ b/lisp/gnus/gnus-group.el
@@ -3194,8 +3194,10 @@ gnus-group-make-search-group
 		  (or gnus-group-marked
 		      (if (gnus-group-group-name)
 			  (list (gnus-group-group-name))
-			(cdr
-			 (assoc (gnus-group-topic-name) gnus-topic-alist))))))))
+			(mapcar #'caadr
+				(gnus-topic-find-groups
+				 (gnus-group-topic-name)
+				 nil 'all nil 'recursive))))))))
 	     (query-spec
 	      (or
 	       (cdr (assq 'search-query-spec specs))
@@ -3243,8 +3245,10 @@ gnus-group-read-ephemeral-search-group
 		 (or gnus-group-marked
 		     (if (gnus-group-group-name)
 			 (list (gnus-group-group-name))
-		       (cdr
-			(assoc (gnus-group-topic-name) gnus-topic-alist))))))))
+		       (mapcar #'caadr
+				(gnus-topic-find-groups
+				 (gnus-group-topic-name)
+				 nil 'all nil 'recursive))))))))
 	 (query-spec
 	  (or (cdr (assq 'search-query-spec specs))
 	      (cdr (assq 'nnir-query-spec specs))