diff --git a/helpdesk/lib.py b/helpdesk/lib.py
index 97977f24..3dfe5448 100644
--- a/helpdesk/lib.py
+++ b/helpdesk/lib.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import logging
 logger = logging.getLogger('helpdesk')
 
 from django.utils.encoding import smart_str
+from django.db.models import Q
 
 def send_templated_mail(template_name, email_context, recipients, sender=None, bcc=None, fail_silently=False, files=None):
     """
@@ -177,17 +178,25 @@ def apply_query(queryset, params):
     params is a dictionary that contains the following:
         filtering: A dict of Django ORM filters, eg:
             {'user__id__in': [1, 3, 103], 'title__contains': 'foo'}
-        other_filter: Another filter of some type, most likely a
-            set of Q() objects.
+       
+        search_string: A freetext search string
+
         sorting: The name of the column to sort by
     """
     for key in params['filtering'].keys():
         filter = {key: params['filtering'][key]}
         queryset = queryset.filter(**filter)
 
-    if params.get('other_filter', None):
-        # eg a Q() set
-        queryset = queryset.filter(params['other_filter'])
+    search = params.get('search_string', None)
+    if search:
+        qset = (
+            Q(title__icontains=search) |
+            Q(description__icontains=search) |
+            Q(resolution__icontains=search) |
+            Q(submitter_email__icontains=search)
+        )
+
+        queryset = queryset.filter(qset)
 
     sorting = params.get('sorting', None)
     if sorting:
diff --git a/helpdesk/views/staff.py b/helpdesk/views/staff.py
index 78502243..021ac329 100644
--- a/helpdesk/views/staff.py
+++ b/helpdesk/views/staff.py
@@ -724,7 +724,7 @@ def ticket_list(request):
         'sorting': None,
         'sortreverse': False,
         'keyword': None,
-        'other_filter': None,
+        'search_string': None,
         }
 
     from_saved_query = False
@@ -834,15 +834,8 @@ def ticket_list(request):
         q = request.GET.get('q', None)
 
         if q:
-            qset = (
-                Q(title__icontains=q) |
-                Q(description__icontains=q) |
-                Q(resolution__icontains=q) |
-                Q(submitter_email__icontains=q)
-            )
             context = dict(context, query=q)
-
-            query_params['other_filter'] = qset
+            query_params['search_string'] = q
 
         ### SORTING
         sort = request.GET.get('sort', None)