diff --git a/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_filters.py b/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_filters.py
index ecfd8a0c12..47670d8d9d 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_filters.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_filters.py
@@ -114,13 +114,13 @@ class TestSmartFilterQueryFromString():
 
 
     @pytest.mark.parametrize("filter_string,q_expected", [
-        ('search=foo', Q(Q(**{u"name": u"foo"}) | Q(**{ u"description": u"foo"}))),
-        ('group__search=foo', Q(Q(**{u"group__name": u"foo"}) | Q(**{u"group__description": u"foo"}))),
+        ('search=foo', Q(Q(**{u"name__contains": u"foo"}) | Q(**{ u"description__contains": u"foo"}))),
+        ('group__search=foo', Q(Q(**{u"group__name__contains": u"foo"}) | Q(**{u"group__description__contains": u"foo"}))),
         ('search=foo and group__search=foo', Q(
-            Q(**{u"name": u"foo"}) | Q(**{ u"description": u"foo"}),
-            Q(**{u"group__name": u"foo"}) | Q(**{u"group__description": u"foo"}))),
+            Q(**{u"name__contains": u"foo"}) | Q(**{ u"description__contains": u"foo"}),
+            Q(**{u"group__name__contains": u"foo"}) | Q(**{u"group__description__contains": u"foo"}))),
         ('search=foo or ansible_facts__a=null',
-            Q(Q(**{u"name": u"foo"}) | Q(**{u"description": u"foo"})) |
+            Q(Q(**{u"name__contains": u"foo"}) | Q(**{u"description__contains": u"foo"})) |
             Q(**{u"ansible_facts__contains": {u"a": u"null"}})),
     ])
     def test_search_related_fields(self, mock_get_host_model, filter_string, q_expected):
diff --git a/awx/main/utils/filters.py b/awx/main/utils/filters.py
index 9ce6162498..5442a329a1 100644
--- a/awx/main/utils/filters.py
+++ b/awx/main/utils/filters.py
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ class SmartFilter(object):
             search_kwargs = self._expand_search(k, v)
             if search_kwargs:
                 kwargs.update(search_kwargs)
-                q = reduce(lambda x, y: x | y, [django.db.models.Q(**{u'%s' % _k:_v}) for _k, _v in kwargs.items()])
+                q = reduce(lambda x, y: x | y, [django.db.models.Q(**{u'%s__contains' % _k:_v}) for _k, _v in kwargs.items()])
                 self.result = Host.objects.filter(q)
             else:
                 kwargs[k] = v