diff --git a/searx/engines/qwant.py b/searx/engines/qwant.py
index 38bafb04..872bd4e9 100644
--- a/searx/engines/qwant.py
+++ b/searx/engines/qwant.py
@@ -19,7 +19,10 @@ categories = None
 paging = True
 language_support = True
 
-search_url_keyword = None
+category_to_keyword = {'general': 'web',
+                       'images': 'images',
+                       'news': 'news',
+                       'social media': 'social'}
 
 # search-url
 url = 'https://api.qwant.com/api/search/{keyword}?count=10&offset={offset}&f=&{query}'
@@ -29,9 +32,15 @@ url = 'https://api.qwant.com/api/search/{keyword}?count=10&offset={offset}&f=&{q
 def request(query, params):
     offset = (params['pageno'] - 1) * 10
 
-    params['url'] = url.format(keyword=search_url_keyword,
-                               query=urlencode({'q': query}),
-                               offset=offset)
+    if categories[0] and categories[0] in category_to_keyword:
+
+        params['url'] = url.format(keyword=category_to_keyword[categories[0]],
+                                   query=urlencode({'q': query}),
+                                   offset=offset)
+    else:
+        params['url'] = url.format(keyword='web',
+                                   query=urlencode({'q': query}),
+                                   offset=offset)
 
     # add language tag if specified
     if params['language'] != 'all':
@@ -61,12 +70,12 @@ def response(resp):
         res_url = result['url']
         content = result['desc']
 
-        if search_url_keyword == 'web':
+        if category_to_keyword.get(categories[0], '') == 'web':
             results.append({'title': title,
                             'content': content,
                             'url': res_url})
 
-        elif search_url_keyword == 'images':
+        elif category_to_keyword.get(categories[0], '') == 'images':
             thumbnail_src = result['thumbnail']
             img_src = result['media']
             results.append({'template': 'images.html',
@@ -76,7 +85,8 @@ def response(resp):
                             'thumbnail_src': thumbnail_src,
                             'img_src': img_src})
 
-        elif search_url_keyword == 'news' or search_url_keyword == 'social':
+        elif (category_to_keyword.get(categories[0], '') == 'news' or
+              category_to_keyword.get(categories[0], '') == 'social'):
             published_date = datetime.fromtimestamp(result['date'], None)
 
             results.append({'url': res_url,
diff --git a/searx/settings.yml b/searx/settings.yml
index c84b810e..1c2b0186 100644
--- a/searx/settings.yml
+++ b/searx/settings.yml
@@ -171,25 +171,21 @@ engines:
   - name : qwant
     engine : qwant
     shortcut : qw
-    search_url_keyword : web
     categories : general
 
   - name : qwant images
     engine : qwant
     shortcut : qwi
-    search_url_keyword : images
     categories : images
 
   - name : qwant news
     engine : qwant
     shortcut : qwn
-    search_url_keyword : news
     categories : news
 
   - name : qwant social
     engine : qwant
     shortcut : qws
-    search_url_keyword : social
     categories : social media
 
   - name : kickass
diff --git a/searx/tests/engines/test_qwant.py b/searx/tests/engines/test_qwant.py
index 6da4745b..7d79d13d 100644
--- a/searx/tests/engines/test_qwant.py
+++ b/searx/tests/engines/test_qwant.py
@@ -11,15 +11,19 @@ class TestQwantEngine(SearxTestCase):
         dicto = defaultdict(dict)
         dicto['pageno'] = 0
         dicto['language'] = 'fr_FR'
+        qwant.categories = ['']
         params = qwant.request(query, dicto)
         self.assertIn('url', params)
         self.assertIn(query, params['url'])
+        self.assertIn('web', params['url'])
         self.assertIn('qwant.com', params['url'])
         self.assertIn('fr_fr', params['url'])
 
         dicto['language'] = 'all'
+        qwant.categories = ['news']
         params = qwant.request(query, dicto)
         self.assertFalse('fr' in params['url'])
+        self.assertIn('news', params['url'])
 
     def test_response(self):
         self.assertRaises(AttributeError, qwant.response, None)
@@ -68,7 +72,7 @@ class TestQwantEngine(SearxTestCase):
         }
         """
         response = mock.Mock(text=json)
-        qwant.search_url_keyword = 'web'
+        qwant.categories = ['general']
         results = qwant.response(response)
         self.assertEqual(type(results), list)
         self.assertEqual(len(results), 1)
@@ -113,7 +117,7 @@ class TestQwantEngine(SearxTestCase):
         }
         """
         response = mock.Mock(text=json)
-        qwant.search_url_keyword = 'images'
+        qwant.categories = ['images']
         results = qwant.response(response)
         self.assertEqual(type(results), list)
         self.assertEqual(len(results), 1)
@@ -158,7 +162,7 @@ class TestQwantEngine(SearxTestCase):
         }
         """
         response = mock.Mock(text=json)
-        qwant.search_url_keyword = 'news'
+        qwant.categories = ['news']
         results = qwant.response(response)
         self.assertEqual(type(results), list)
         self.assertEqual(len(results), 1)
@@ -202,7 +206,7 @@ class TestQwantEngine(SearxTestCase):
         }
         """
         response = mock.Mock(text=json)
-        qwant.search_url_keyword = 'social'
+        qwant.categories = ['social media']
         results = qwant.response(response)
         self.assertEqual(type(results), list)
         self.assertEqual(len(results), 1)
@@ -246,7 +250,7 @@ class TestQwantEngine(SearxTestCase):
         }
         """
         response = mock.Mock(text=json)
-        qwant.search_url_keyword = ''
+        qwant.categories = ['']
         results = qwant.response(response)
         self.assertEqual(type(results), list)
         self.assertEqual(len(results), 0)