diff --git a/addressbook/inc/class.addressbook_sql.inc.php b/addressbook/inc/class.addressbook_sql.inc.php
index 9908fe65d9..c7053c3762 100644
--- a/addressbook/inc/class.addressbook_sql.inc.php
+++ b/addressbook/inc/class.addressbook_sql.inc.php
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class addressbook_sql extends so_sql_cf
 	/**
 	 * join to show only active account (and not already expired ones)
 	 */
-	const ACOUNT_ACTIVE_JOIN = ' LEFT JOIN egw_accounts ON egw_addressbook.account_id=egw_accounts.account_id';
+	const ACCOUNT_ACTIVE_JOIN = ' LEFT JOIN egw_accounts ON egw_addressbook.account_id=egw_accounts.account_id';
 	/**
 	 * filter to show only active account (and not already expired ones)
 	 * UNIX_TIMESTAMP(NOW()) gets replaced with value of time() in the code!
@@ -328,7 +328,14 @@ class addressbook_sql extends so_sql_cf
 			$join .= " JOIN $this->ab2list_table ON $this->table_name.contact_id=$this->ab2list_table.contact_id AND list_id=".(int)$filter['list'];
 			unset($filter['list']);
 		}
-		if ($join)
+		// add join to show only active accounts (only if accounts are shown and in sql and we not already join the accounts table, eg. used by admin)
+		if (!$owner && substr($this->account_repository,0,3) == 'sql' &&
+			strpos($join,$GLOBALS['egw']->accounts->backend->table) === false && !array_key_exists('account_id',$filter))
+		{
+			$join .= self::ACCOUNT_ACTIVE_JOIN;
+			$filter[] = str_replace('UNIX_TIMESTAMP(NOW())',time(),self::ACOUNT_ACTIVE_FILTER);
+		}
+		if ($join || $criteria && is_string($criteria))	// search also adds a join for custom fields!
 		{
 			switch(gettype($only_keys))
 			{
@@ -368,13 +375,6 @@ class addressbook_sql extends so_sql_cf
 				//_debug_array($order_by);
 			}
 		}
-		// add join to show only active accounts (only if accounts are shown and in sql and we not already join the accounts table, eg. used by admin)
-		if (!$owner && substr($this->account_repository,0,3) == 'sql' &&
-			strpos($join,$GLOBALS['egw']->accounts->backend->table) === false && !array_key_exists('account_id',$filter))
-		{
-			$join .= self::ACOUNT_ACTIVE_JOIN;
-			$filter[] = str_replace('UNIX_TIMESTAMP(NOW())',time(),self::ACOUNT_ACTIVE_FILTER);
-		}
 		$rows =& parent::search($criteria,$only_keys,$order_by,$extra_cols,$wildcard,$empty,$op,$start,$filter,$join,$need_full_no_count);
 
 		if ($start === false) $this->total = is_array($rows) ? count($rows) : 0;	// so_sql sets total only for $start !== false!
diff --git a/etemplate/inc/class.so_sql.inc.php b/etemplate/inc/class.so_sql.inc.php
index 5b7111f7f7..3bf047df1b 100644
--- a/etemplate/inc/class.so_sql.inc.php
+++ b/etemplate/inc/class.so_sql.inc.php
@@ -1081,16 +1081,22 @@ class so_sql
 		{
 			return array();
 		}
-
 		// Concat all fields to be searched together, so the conditions operate across the whole record
 		foreach($search_cols as $col)
 		{
-			if($this->table_def['fd'][$col] && in_array($this->table_def['fd'][$col]['type'], $numeric_types))
+			$col_name = $col;
+			$table = $this->table_name;
+			if (strpos($col,'.') !== false)
+			{
+				list($table,$col_name) = explode('.',$col);
+			}
+			$table_def = $table == $this->table_name ? $this->table_def : $this->db->get_table_definitions(true,$table);
+			if ($table_def['fd'][$col_name] && in_array($table_def['fd'][$col_name]['type'], $numeric_types))
 			{
 				$numeric_columns[] = $col;
 				continue;
 			}
-			$columns[] = "CAST(COALESCE($col,'') AS char)";
+			$columns[] = sprintf($this->db->capabilities[egw_db::CAPABILITY_CAST_AS_VACHAR],"COALESCE($col,'')");
 		}
 		if($columns)
 		{
@@ -1166,7 +1172,7 @@ class so_sql
 					if($wildcard == '')
 					{
 						// Token has a wildcard from user, use LIKE
-						$numeric_filter[] = "($col IS NOT NULL AND CAST($col AS CHAR) " . 
+						$numeric_filter[] = "($col IS NOT NULL AND CAST($col AS CHAR) " .
 							$this->db->capabilities['case_insensitive_like'] . ' ' .
 							$GLOBALS['egw']->db->quote(str_replace(array('%','_','*','?'),array('\\%','\\_','%','_'),$token)) . ')';
 					}