diff --git a/src/scripts/choices.js b/src/scripts/choices.js
index 3ff3314..f81800c 100644
--- a/src/scripts/choices.js
+++ b/src/scripts/choices.js
@@ -82,19 +82,6 @@ class Choices {
       { arrayMerge: (_, sourceArray) => [...sourceArray] },
     );
 
-    // Convert addItemFilter to function
-    if (
-      userConfig.addItemFilter &&
-      typeof userConfig.addItemFilter !== 'function'
-    ) {
-      const re =
-        userConfig.addItemFilter instanceof RegExp
-          ? userConfig.addItemFilter
-          : new RegExp(userConfig.addItemFilter);
-
-      this.config.addItemFilter = re.test.bind(re);
-    }
-
     const invalidConfigOptions = diff(this.config, DEFAULT_CONFIG);
     if (invalidConfigOptions.length) {
       console.warn(
@@ -103,10 +90,6 @@ class Choices {
       );
     }
 
-    if (!['auto', 'always'].includes(this.config.renderSelectedChoices)) {
-      this.config.renderSelectedChoices = 'auto';
-    }
-
     const passedElement =
       typeof element === 'string' ? document.querySelector(element) : element;
 
@@ -127,6 +110,25 @@ class Choices {
     this._isSelectElement =
       this._isSelectOneElement || this._isSelectMultipleElement;
 
+    this.config.searchEnabled =
+      this._isSelectMultipleElement || this.config.searchEnabled;
+
+    if (!['auto', 'always'].includes(this.config.renderSelectedChoices)) {
+      this.config.renderSelectedChoices = 'auto';
+    }
+
+    if (
+      userConfig.addItemFilter &&
+      typeof userConfig.addItemFilter !== 'function'
+    ) {
+      const re =
+        userConfig.addItemFilter instanceof RegExp
+          ? userConfig.addItemFilter
+          : new RegExp(userConfig.addItemFilter);
+
+      this.config.addItemFilter = re.test.bind(re);
+    }
+
     if (this._isTextElement) {
       this.passedElement = new WrappedInput({
         element: passedElement,
diff --git a/src/scripts/choices.test.js b/src/scripts/choices.test.js
index 3e5bb34..06f4f96 100644
--- a/src/scripts/choices.test.js
+++ b/src/scripts/choices.test.js
@@ -63,6 +63,36 @@ describe('choices', () => {
             ...config,
           });
         });
+
+        describe('passing the searchEnabled config option with a value of false', () => {
+          describe('passing a select-multiple element', () => {
+            it('sets searchEnabled to true', () => {
+              document.body.innerHTML = `
+              <select data-choice multiple></select>
+              `;
+
+              instance = new Choices('[data-choice]', {
+                searchEnabled: false,
+              });
+
+              expect(instance.config.searchEnabled).to.equal(true);
+            });
+          });
+        });
+
+        describe('passing the renderSelectedChoices config option with an unexpected value', () => {
+          it('sets renderSelectedChoices to "auto"', () => {
+            document.body.innerHTML = `
+            <select data-choice multiple></select>
+            `;
+
+            instance = new Choices('[data-choice]', {
+              renderSelectedChoices: 'test',
+            });
+
+            expect(instance.config.renderSelectedChoices).to.equal('auto');
+          });
+        });
       });
     });