diff --git a/qutebrowser/browser/commands.py b/qutebrowser/browser/commands.py
index 201117763..9422cb002 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/browser/commands.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/browser/commands.py
@@ -1778,7 +1778,7 @@ class CommandDispatcher:
                             replace=True)
 
     @cmdutils.register(instance='command-dispatcher', scope='window',
-                       maxsplit=0, star_args_optional=True)
+                       maxsplit=0, star_args_optional=True, no_cmd_split=True)
     def search(self, *text, reverse=False):
         """Search for a text on the current page. With no text, clear results.
 
diff --git a/tests/end2end/data/search.html b/tests/end2end/data/search.html
index fa1da96d9..1064a7d01 100644
--- a/tests/end2end/data/search.html
+++ b/tests/end2end/data/search.html
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
             space travel<br/>
             /slash<br/>
             -r reversed<br/>
+            ;; semicolons<br/>
             <a class="toselect" href="hello.txt">follow me!</a><br/>
         </p>
     </body>
diff --git a/tests/end2end/features/search.feature b/tests/end2end/features/search.feature
index 85b33c682..2ba075868 100644
--- a/tests/end2end/features/search.feature
+++ b/tests/end2end/features/search.feature
@@ -51,6 +51,11 @@ Feature: Searching on a page
         And I wait for "search found -r reversed" in the log
         Then "-r reversed" should be found
 
+    Scenario: Searching with semicolons in search term
+        When I run :search ;; semi
+        And I wait for "search found ;; semi" in the log
+        Then ";; semi" should be found
+
     # This doesn't work because this is QtWebKit behavior.
     @xfail_norun
     Scenario: Searching text with umlauts