diff --git a/.github/workflows/ruby.yml b/.github/workflows/ruby.yml
index bc9610a2d..9cf4138b6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ruby.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ruby.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ jobs:
         additional_engine_cart_rails_options: ["-j importmap"]
         additional_name: [""]
         include:
+          - rails_version: "~> 8.0"
+            ruby: "3.4"
+            blacklight_version: "~> 9.0.0.beta7"
+            additional_engine_cart_rails_options: "-j importmap"
+            additional_name: Blacklight 9 beta
           - rails_version: "~> 7.2"
             ruby: "3.3"
             blacklight_version: "~> 8.0"
diff --git a/app/controllers/concerns/spotlight/search_helper.rb b/app/controllers/concerns/spotlight/search_helper.rb
index 45dc8c185..f449168e3 100644
--- a/app/controllers/concerns/spotlight/search_helper.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/concerns/spotlight/search_helper.rb
@@ -3,10 +3,15 @@
 module Spotlight
   # ...
   module SearchHelper
+    # @param [Hash] user_params the query parameters used to reconstitute the search state
+    #          from saved searches. If not provided, will use the search_state from the view context
+    #          or an empty hash if that is not available.
+    # @return [Object] An instance of the configured search service
     def search_service(user_params = respond_to?(:search_state, true) ? search_state.to_h : {})
+      state = Blacklight::SearchState.new(user_params, blacklight_config)
       klass = respond_to?(:search_service_class) ? search_service_class : Blacklight::SearchService
 
-      klass.new(config: blacklight_config, user_params:, **search_service_context)
+      klass.new(config: blacklight_config, search_state: state, **search_service_context)
     end
 
     # @return [Hash] a hash of context information to pass through to the search service
diff --git a/app/controllers/spotlight/pages_controller.rb b/app/controllers/spotlight/pages_controller.rb
index f87eae1e2..f0f49b1b3 100644
--- a/app/controllers/spotlight/pages_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/spotlight/pages_controller.rb
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ def _prefixes
     # @param [Hash] the query parameters
     # @return [Object] the search results object from the configured search service
     def search_results(user_params)
-      search_service(user_params).search_results
+      search_service(search_state: Blacklight::SearchState.new(user_params, blacklight_config)).search_results
     end
 
     def undo_link