diff --git a/qutebrowser/commands/runners.py b/qutebrowser/commands/runners.py
index ee0634dc4..ec9655280 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/commands/runners.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/commands/runners.py
@@ -71,7 +71,12 @@ class SearchRunner(QObject):
             self.do_search.emit('', QWebPage.HighlightAllOccurrences)
         self._text = text
         self._flags = 0
-        if not config.get('general', 'ignore-case'):
+        ignore_case = config.get('general', 'ignore-case')
+        if ignore_case == 'smart':
+            if not text.islower():
+                self._flags |= QWebPage.FindCaseSensitively
+        elif ignore_case:
+            # True, but not 'smart'
             self._flags |= QWebPage.FindCaseSensitively
         if config.get('general', 'wrap-search'):
             self._flags |= QWebPage.FindWrapsAroundDocument
diff --git a/qutebrowser/config/configdata.py b/qutebrowser/config/configdata.py
index 27ef05c70..61bbead1a 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/config/configdata.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/config/configdata.py
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ SECTION_DESC = {
 DATA = OrderedDict([
     ('general', sect.KeyValue(
         ('ignore-case',
-         SettingValue(types.Bool(), 'true'),
+         SettingValue(types.IgnoreCase(), 'smart'),
          "Whether to find text on a page case-insensitively."),
 
         ('wrap-search',
diff --git a/qutebrowser/config/conftypes.py b/qutebrowser/config/conftypes.py
index 4452056f0..295b5de2c 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/config/conftypes.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/config/conftypes.py
@@ -1182,3 +1182,26 @@ class NewTabPosition(BaseType):
                                ('right', "On the right of the current tab."),
                                ('first', "At the left end."),
                                ('last', "At the right end."))
+
+
+class IgnoreCase(Bool):
+
+    """Whether to ignore case when searching."""
+
+    def transform(self, value):
+        if value.lower() == 'smart':
+            return 'smart'
+        else:
+            return super().transform(value)
+
+    def validate(self, value):
+        if value.lower() == 'smart':
+            return
+        else:
+            super().validate(value)
+
+    def complete(self):
+        return [('true', 'Search case-insensitively'),
+                ('false', 'Search case-sensitively'),
+                ('smart', 'Search case-sensitively if there are capital '
+                 'chars')]
diff --git a/qutebrowser/test/config/test_conftypes.py b/qutebrowser/test/config/test_conftypes.py
index fa1593754..3b9cbee34 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/test/config/test_conftypes.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/test/config/test_conftypes.py
@@ -1826,5 +1826,55 @@ class AutoSearchTests(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertIsNone(self.t.transform(''))
 
 
+class IgnoreCase(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    """Test IgnoreCase."""
+
+    TESTS = {
+        'smart': ['smart', 'SMART'],
+        True: BoolTests.TESTS[True],
+        False: BoolTests.TESTS[False],
+    }
+    INVALID = ['ssmart', 'foo']
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.t = conftypes.IgnoreCase()
+
+    def test_validate_empty(self):
+        """Test validate with empty string and none_ok = False."""
+        with self.assertRaises(conftypes.ValidationError):
+            self.t.validate('')
+
+    def test_validate_empty_none_ok(self):
+        """Test validate with empty string and none_ok = True."""
+        t = conftypes.IgnoreCase(none_ok=True)
+        t.validate('')
+
+    def test_validate_valid(self):
+        """Test validate with valid values."""
+        for vallist in self.TESTS.values():
+            for val in vallist:
+                with self.subTest(val=val):
+                    self.t.validate(val)
+
+    def test_validate_invalid(self):
+        """Test validate with invalid values."""
+        for val in self.INVALID:
+            with self.subTest(val=val):
+                with self.assertRaises(conftypes.ValidationError):
+                    self.t.validate(val)
+
+    def test_transform(self):
+        """Test transform with all values."""
+        for out, inputs in self.TESTS.items():
+            for inp in inputs:
+                with self.subTest(inp=inp):
+                    self.assertEqual(self.t.transform(inp), out, inp)
+
+    def test_transform_empty(self):
+        """Test transform with none_ok = False and an empty value."""
+        self.assertIsNone(self.t.transform(''))
+
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()