diff --git a/src/__tests__/utils-tests.ts b/src/__tests__/utils-tests.ts
index 4333720..986b458 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/utils-tests.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/utils-tests.ts
@@ -3,21 +3,19 @@ import { getAliasesFromMetadata } from '../utils'
 
 describe('Utils', () => {
   describe('getAliasesFromMetadata', () => {
-    it('should return an empty string if no metadata is provided', () => {
+    it('should return an empty array if no metadata is provided', () => {
       // Act
       const actual = getAliasesFromMetadata(null)
       // Assert
-      expect(actual).toBe('')
+      expect(actual).toEqual([])
     })
-    it('should return an empty string if no aliases are provided', () => {
-      // Arrange
-      const metadata = {} as CachedMetadata
+    it('should return an empty array if no aliases are provided', () => {
       // Act
-      const actual = getAliasesFromMetadata(metadata)
+      const actual = getAliasesFromMetadata({})
       // Assert
-      expect(actual).toBe('')
+      expect(actual).toEqual([])
     })
-    it('should join aliases with a comma', () => {
+    it('should return the aliases array as-is', () => {
       // Arrange
       const metadata = {
         frontmatter: { aliases: ['foo', 'bar'] },
@@ -25,9 +23,9 @@ describe('Utils', () => {
       // Act
       const actual = getAliasesFromMetadata(metadata)
       // Assert
-      expect(actual).toBe('foo, bar')
+      expect(actual).toEqual(['foo', 'bar'])
     })
-    it('should return a single alias if only one is provided', () => {
+    it('should convert the aliases string into an array', () => {
       // Arrange
       const metadata = {
         frontmatter: { aliases: 'foo, bar' },
@@ -35,7 +33,17 @@ describe('Utils', () => {
       // Act
       const actual = getAliasesFromMetadata(metadata)
       // Assert
-      expect(actual).toBe('foo, bar')
+      expect(actual).toEqual(['foo', 'bar'])
+    })
+    it('should return an empty array if the aliases field is an empty string', () => {
+      // Arrange
+      const metadata = {
+        frontmatter: { aliases: '' },
+      } as CachedMetadata
+      // Act
+      const actual = getAliasesFromMetadata(metadata)
+      // Assert
+      expect(actual).toEqual([])
     })
   })
 })
diff --git a/src/search.ts b/src/search.ts
index 133ef01..b75c1d2 100644
--- a/src/search.ts
+++ b/src/search.ts
@@ -228,10 +228,10 @@ export async function addToIndex(file: TAbstractFile): Promise<void> {
 
     // Make the document and index it
     const note: IndexedNote = {
-      basename: file.basename,
+      basename: file.path,
       content,
       path: file.path,
-      aliases: getAliasesFromMetadata(metadata),
+      aliases: getAliasesFromMetadata(metadata).join(''),
       headings1: metadata
         ? extractHeadingsFromCache(metadata, 1).join(' ')
         : '',
@@ -242,6 +242,7 @@ export async function addToIndex(file: TAbstractFile): Promise<void> {
         ? extractHeadingsFromCache(metadata, 3).join(' ')
         : '',
     }
+
     minisearchInstance.add(note)
     indexedNotes[note.path] = note
   }
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index a4866bf..b96e150 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -150,7 +150,9 @@ export function stripMarkdownCharacters(text: string): string {
 
 export function getAliasesFromMetadata(
   metadata: CachedMetadata | null,
-): string {
+): string[] {
   const arrOrString = metadata?.frontmatter?.aliases ?? []
-  return Array.isArray(arrOrString) ? arrOrString.join(', ') : arrOrString
+  return (Array.isArray(arrOrString) ? arrOrString : arrOrString.split(','))
+  .map(s => s ? s.trim() : s)
+  .filter(s => !!s)
 }