The workaround suggested by Martix fixed the constraint errors in my case. However, it does not fix a related issue I am having. After engaging the searchbar, when I return to the previous controller (via pop) from the current one (which has the searchbar), the autolayout constraints used on the overlay panel there get messed up... so some major mess-up is being done by the searchbar once user engages it. The problem does not happen if I pop back without engaging the searchbar. Another issue - I am unable to hide the navigation bar in ViewWillDisappear() once the user engages the searchbar. If the user does not engage the searchbar, then the navbar hides on command. This problem shows up on my ipad version only. I am using a couple of viewcontrollers within a navigation controller. I set the search controller as a navitem: navigationItem.searchController = searchController I tried setting the searchcontroller into the tableHeaderView - but same problem there too...