diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/search.js.es6 b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/search.js.es6
index 317106eaaf5..28a316c6583 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/search.js.es6
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/controllers/search.js.es6
@@ -9,9 +9,32 @@
 export default Em.ArrayController.extend(Discourse.Presence, {
 
   contextChanged: function(){
-    this.setProperties({ term: "", content: [], resultCount: 0, urls: [] });
+    if(this.get('searchContextEnabled')){
+      this._dontSearch = true;
+      this.set('searchContextEnabled', false);
+      this._dontSearch = false;
+    }
   }.observes("searchContext"),
 
+  searchContextDescription: function(){
+    var ctx = this.get('searchContext');
+    if (ctx) {
+      switch(Em.get(ctx, 'type')) {
+        case 'topic':
+          return I18n.t('search.context.topic');
+        case 'user':
+          return I18n.t('search.context.user', {username: Em.get(ctx, 'user.username')});
+        case 'category':
+          return I18n.t('search.context.category', {category: Em.get(ctx, 'category.name')});
+      }
+    }
+  }.property('searchContext'),
+
+  searchContextEnabledChanged: function(){
+    if(this._dontSearch){ return; }
+    this.newSearchNeeded();
+  }.observes('searchContextEnabled'),
+
   // If we need to perform another search
   newSearchNeeded: function() {
     this.set('noResults', false);
@@ -29,9 +52,14 @@ export default Em.ArrayController.extend(Discourse.Presence, {
     var self = this;
     this.setProperties({ resultCount: 0, urls: [] });
 
+    var context;
+    if(this.get('searchContextEnabled')){
+      context = this.get('searchContext');
+    }
+
     return Discourse.Search.forTerm(term, {
       typeFilter: typeFilter,
-      searchContext: this.get('searchContext')
+      searchContext: context
     }).then(function(results) {
       var urls = [];
       if (results) {
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/search.js.handlebars b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/search.js.handlebars
index 68f7a971b97..2b1fbb1e86a 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/search.js.handlebars
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/templates/search.js.handlebars
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
-{{view 'search-text-field' value=term searchContext=searchContext id="search-term"}}
-{{#unless loading}}
+{{view 'search-text-field' value=term searchContextEnabled=searchContextEnabled searchContext=searchContext id="search-term"}}
+{{#if searchContext}}
+<div>
+  <label>
+  {{input type="checkbox" name="searchContext" checked=searchContextEnabled}} {{searchContextDescription}}
+  </label>
+</div>
+{{/if}}
+{{#if loading}}
+  <div class='searching'></div>
+{{else}}
   {{#unless noResults}}
     {{#each resultType in content}}
       <ul>
@@ -21,6 +30,4 @@
       {{i18n search.no_results}}
     </div>
   {{/unless}}
-{{else}}
-<div class='searching'><i class='fa fa-spinner fa-spin'></i></div>
-{{/unless}}
+{{/if}}
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/search-text-field.js.es6 b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/search-text-field.js.es6
index c7aeb13b079..1195af24ba3 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/search-text-field.js.es6
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/views/search-text-field.js.es6
@@ -18,16 +18,10 @@ export default TextField.extend({
   **/
   placeholder: function() {
 
-    var ctx = this.get('searchContext');
-    if (ctx) {
-      switch(Em.get(ctx, 'type')) {
-        case 'user':
-          return I18n.t('search.prefer.user', {username: Em.get(ctx, 'user.username')});
-        case 'category':
-          return I18n.t('search.prefer.category', {category: Em.get(ctx, 'category.name')});
-      }
+    if(this.get('searchContextEnabled')){
+      return "";
     }
 
     return I18n.t('search.title');
-  }.property('searchContext')
+  }.property('searchContextEnabled')
 });
diff --git a/config/locales/client.en.yml b/config/locales/client.en.yml
index 177e33235f9..e76677ad775 100644
--- a/config/locales/client.en.yml
+++ b/config/locales/client.en.yml
@@ -649,9 +649,10 @@ en:
       no_results: "No results found."
       searching: "Searching ..."
 
-      prefer:
-        user: "search will prefer results by @{{username}}"
-        category: "search will prefer results in {{category}}"
+      context:
+        user: "Search posts by @{{username}}"
+        category: "Search the \"{{category}}\" category"
+        topic: "Search this topic"
 
     site_map: "go to another topic list or category"
     go_back: 'go back'
diff --git a/lib/search.rb b/lib/search.rb
index 55c7c1ab936..afb1a54b4a7 100644
--- a/lib/search.rb
+++ b/lib/search.rb
@@ -76,8 +76,10 @@ class Search
         send("#{@results.type_filter}_search")
       else
         @limit = Search.per_facet + 1
-        user_search
-        category_search
+        unless @search_context
+          user_search
+          category_search
+        end
         topic_search
       end
 
@@ -161,14 +163,12 @@ class Search
       if @search_context.present?
 
         if @search_context.is_a?(User)
-          # If the context is a user, prioritize that user's posts
-          posts = posts.order("CASE WHEN posts.user_id = #{@search_context.id} THEN 0 ELSE 1 END")
+          posts = posts.where("posts.user_id = #{@search_context.id}")
         elsif @search_context.is_a?(Category)
-          # If the context is a category, restrict posts to that category
-          posts = posts.order("CASE WHEN topics.category_id = #{@search_context.id} THEN 0 ELSE 1 END")
+          posts = posts.where("topics.category_id = #{@search_context.id}")
         elsif @search_context.is_a?(Topic)
-          posts = posts.order("CASE WHEN topics.id = #{@search_context.id} THEN 0 ELSE 1 END,
-                               CASE WHEN topics.id = #{@search_context.id} THEN posts.post_number ELSE 999999 END")
+          posts = posts.where("topics.id = #{@search_context.id}")
+                       .order("posts.post_number")
         end
 
       end
diff --git a/spec/components/search_spec.rb b/spec/components/search_spec.rb
index ff5eb62561b..cf25bd0cecf 100644
--- a/spec/components/search_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/search_spec.rb
@@ -162,8 +162,7 @@ describe Search do
           post1.topic_id,
           "_#{post2.id}",
           "_#{post3.id}",
-          "_#{post4.id}",
-          topic2.id]
+          "_#{post4.id}"]
 
       end
     end
@@ -312,8 +311,6 @@ describe Search do
 
       # should find topic created by searched user first
       Then          { first_of_type(search_user, 'topic')[:id].should == post.topic_id }
-      # results should also include topic by coding_horror
-      And           { result_ids_for_type(search_user, 'topic').should include coding_horror_post.topic_id }
     end
 
     context 'category as a search context' do
@@ -326,9 +323,6 @@ describe Search do
       When(:search_cat) { Search.new('hello', search_context: category).execute }
       # should find topic in searched category first
       Then          { first_of_type(search_cat, 'topic')[:id].should == topic.id }
-      # results should also include topic without category
-      And          { result_ids_for_type(search_cat, 'topic').should include topic_no_cat.id }
-
     end
 
   end
diff --git a/test/javascripts/controllers/search_controller_test.js b/test/javascripts/controllers/search_controller_test.js
index 2d843d9b999..2dfbc5db8f1 100644
--- a/test/javascripts/controllers/search_controller_test.js
+++ b/test/javascripts/controllers/search_controller_test.js
@@ -235,6 +235,7 @@ test("selecting a highlighted item", function() {
 test("search query / the flow of the search", function() {
   Ember.run(function() {
     controller.set("searchContext", "context");
+    controller.set("searchContextEnabled", true);
     controller.set("term", "ab");
   });
   ok(Discourse.Search.forTerm.calledWithExactly(
diff --git a/test/javascripts/views/search_text_field_test.js b/test/javascripts/views/search_text_field_test.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 05bdd4be52e..00000000000
--- a/test/javascripts/views/search_text_field_test.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
-var view;
-
-var placeholderUsesKeyAndContext = function(key, context) {
-  var placeholder = view.get("placeholder");
-  equal(placeholder.key, key, "placeholder contains correct message");
-  deepEqual(placeholder.context, context, "correct parameters are passed to the message");
-};
-
-module("view:search-text-field", {
-  setup: function() {
-    sinon.stub(I18n, "t", function(key, context) {
-      return {key: key, context: context};
-    });
-
-    view = viewClassFor('search-text-field').create();
-  },
-
-  teardown: function() {
-    I18n.t.restore();
-  }
-});
-
-test("formats placeholder correctly when no searchContext is provided", function() {
-  placeholderUsesKeyAndContext("search.title", undefined);
-});
-
-test("formats placeholder correctly when user searchContext is provided", function() {
-  view.set("searchContext", {
-    type: "user",
-    user: {
-      username: "userName"
-    }
-  });
-  placeholderUsesKeyAndContext("search.prefer.user", {username: "userName"});
-});
-
-test("formats placeholder correctly when category searchContext is provided", function() {
-  view.set("searchContext", {
-    type: "category",
-    category: {
-      name: "categoryName"
-    }
-  });
-  placeholderUsesKeyAndContext("search.prefer.category", {category: "categoryName"});
-});