diff --git a/readme.txt b/readme.txt
index e4fdee93e..f39951f5c 100644
--- a/readme.txt
+++ b/readme.txt
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ You can view (and contribute) translations via the [translate.wordpress.org](htt
 * Fix - Handle WP 4.3 signup notification.
 * Fix - Map mime types to those that WordPress knows.
 * Fix - Alert text color.
+* Fix - Searches containing special chars.
 * Tweak - Improved uploader error handling and updated library.
 * Tweak - Improve job_manager_user_can_post_job and job_manager_user_can_edit_job capability handling in job-submit.php
 * Tweak - Clear transients in batches of 500.
diff --git a/wp-job-manager-functions.php b/wp-job-manager-functions.php
index d3a8aadba..aa9036b69 100644
--- a/wp-job-manager-functions.php
+++ b/wp-job-manager-functions.php
@@ -147,11 +147,16 @@ function get_job_listings_keyword_search( $args ) {
 		global $wpdb, $job_manager_keyword;
 
 		// Query matching ids to avoid more joins
-		$post_ids   = $wpdb->get_col( "SELECT post_id FROM {$wpdb->postmeta} WHERE meta_value LIKE '%" .esc_sql( $job_manager_keyword ) . "%'" );
+		$post_ids   = $wpdb->get_col( "SELECT post_id FROM {$wpdb->postmeta} WHERE meta_value LIKE '%" . esc_sql( $job_manager_keyword ) . "%'" );
 		$conditions = array();
 
 		$conditions[] = "{$wpdb->posts}.post_title LIKE '%" . esc_sql( $job_manager_keyword ) . "%'";
-		$conditions[] = "{$wpdb->posts}.post_content RLIKE '[[:<:]]" . esc_sql( $job_manager_keyword ) . "[[:>:]]'";
+
+		if ( ctype_alnum( $job_manager_keyword ) ) {
+			$conditions[] = "{$wpdb->posts}.post_content RLIKE '[[:<:]]" . esc_sql( $job_manager_keyword ) . "[[:>:]]'";
+		} else {
+			$conditions[] = "{$wpdb->posts}.post_content LIKE '%" . esc_sql( $job_manager_keyword ) . "%'";
+		}
 
 		if ( $post_ids ) {
 			$conditions[] = "{$wpdb->posts}.ID IN (" . esc_sql( implode( ',', $post_ids ) ) . ")";