diff --git a/youtube-dl b/youtube-dl
index e41134546..6757a896c 100755
--- a/youtube-dl
+++ b/youtube-dl
@@ -786,6 +786,9 @@ class YoutubeSearchIE(InfoExtractor):
 				if n <= 0:
 					self.to_stderr(u'ERROR: invalid download number %s for query "%s"' % (n, query))
 					return [None]
+				elif n > self._max_youtube_results:
+					self.to_stderr(u'WARNING: ytsearch returns max %i results (you requested %i)'  % (self._max_youtube_results, n))
+					n = self._max_youtube_results
 				return self._download_n_results(query, n)
 			except ValueError: # parsing prefix as int fails
 				return self._download_n_results(query, 1)