diff --git a/searx/engines/__init__.py b/searx/engines/__init__.py
index 61d38862..72e53742 100644
--- a/searx/engines/__init__.py
+++ b/searx/engines/__init__.py
@@ -71,6 +71,9 @@ for engine_data in settings['engines']:
     if not hasattr(engine, 'paging'):
         engine.paging = False
 
+    if not hasattr(engine, 'categories'):
+        engine.categories = ['general']
+
     if not hasattr(engine, 'language_support'):
         #engine.language_support = False
         engine.language_support = True