diff --git a/simplesearch.php b/simplesearch.php
index 14294d6..6f062bd 100644
--- a/simplesearch.php
+++ b/simplesearch.php
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ public function onPagesInitialized()
         }
 
         // If a page exists merge the configs
-        if ($page) {
+        if (isset($page)) {
             $this->config->set('plugins.simplesearch', $this->mergeConfig($page));
         }
 
@@ -110,6 +110,12 @@ public function onPagesInitialized()
             return;
         }
 
+        // set the template is not set in the page header (the page header setting takes precedence over the plugin config setting)
+        if (!isset($page->header()->template)) {
+            $template_override = $this->config->get('plugins.simplesearch.template', 'simplesearch_results');
+            $page->template($template_override);
+        }
+
         // Explode query into multiple strings. Drop empty values
         $this->query = array_filter(array_filter(explode(',', $query), 'trim'), 'strlen');
 
@@ -225,15 +231,17 @@ public function onPagesInitialized()
             );
         }
 
-        // if page doesn't have settings set, create a page
-        if (!isset($page->header()->simplesearch)) {
+        // Display simplesearch page if no page was found for the current route
+        $pages = $this->grav['pages'];
+        $page = $pages->dispatch($this->config->get('plugins.simplesearch.route', '/search'), true);
+        if (!isset($page)) {
             // create the search page
             $page = new Page;
             $page->init(new \SplFileInfo(__DIR__ . '/pages/simplesearch.md'));
 
-            // override the template is set in the config
+            // override the template is set in the plugin config (the plugin config setting takes precedence over the page header setting)
             $template_override = $this->config->get('plugins.simplesearch.template');
-            if ($template_override) {
+            if (isset($template_override)) {
                 $page->template($template_override);
             }