diff --git a/docs/content/querying/searchqueryspec.md b/docs/content/querying/searchqueryspec.md
index 4627bbbec08..53773005ff5 100644
--- a/docs/content/querying/searchqueryspec.md
+++ b/docs/content/querying/searchqueryspec.md
@@ -40,4 +40,16 @@ If any part of a dimension value contains the value specified in this search que
   "case_sensitive" : true,
   "value" : "some_value"
 }
+```
+
+RegexSearchQuerySpec
+----------------------------------
+
+If any part of a dimension value contains the pattern specified in this search query spec, a "match" occurs. The grammar is:
+
+```json
+{
+  "type"  : "regex",
+  "pattern" : "some_pattern"
+}
 ```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/search/RegexSearchQuerySpec.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/search/RegexSearchQuerySpec.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2f4b7928d56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/search/RegexSearchQuerySpec.java
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+/*
+* Licensed to Metamarkets Group Inc. (Metamarkets) under one
+* or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file
+* distributed with this work for additional information
+* regarding copyright ownership. Metamarkets licenses this file
+* to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+* "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+* with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+*
+* http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+*
+* Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+* software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+* "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+* KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
+* specific language governing permissions and limitations
+* under the License.
+*/
+
+package io.druid.query.search.search;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
+import com.metamx.common.StringUtils;
+
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+
+
+public class RegexSearchQuerySpec implements SearchQuerySpec
+{
+
+  private static final byte CACHE_TYPE_ID = 0x3;
+
+  private final String pattern;
+  private final Pattern compiled;
+
+  @JsonCreator
+  public RegexSearchQuerySpec(
+      @JsonProperty("pattern") String pattern
+  )
+  {
+    this.pattern = Preconditions.checkNotNull(pattern, "pattern should not be null");
+    compiled = Pattern.compile(pattern);
+  }
+
+  @JsonProperty
+  public String getPattern()
+  {
+    return pattern;
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public boolean equals(Object o)
+  {
+    if (this == o) {
+      return true;
+    }
+    if (!(o instanceof RegexSearchQuerySpec)) {
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    RegexSearchQuerySpec that = (RegexSearchQuerySpec) o;
+
+    return pattern.equals(that.pattern);
+
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public int hashCode()
+  {
+    return pattern.hashCode();
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public boolean accept(String dimVal)
+  {
+    if (dimVal == null) {
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    return compiled.matcher(dimVal).find();
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public byte[] getCacheKey()
+  {
+    byte[] patternBytes = StringUtils.toUtf8(pattern);
+
+    return ByteBuffer.allocate(1 + patternBytes.length)
+                     .put(CACHE_TYPE_ID)
+                     .put(patternBytes)
+                     .array();
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public String toString()
+  {
+    return "RegexSearchQuerySpec{" +
+           "pattern=" + pattern + "}";
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/search/SearchQuerySpec.java b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/search/SearchQuerySpec.java
index 2dcc2ecbae4..80794b73f4c 100644
--- a/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/search/SearchQuerySpec.java
+++ b/processing/src/main/java/io/druid/query/search/search/SearchQuerySpec.java
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonTypeInfo;
 @JsonSubTypes(value = {
     @JsonSubTypes.Type(name = "contains", value = ContainsSearchQuerySpec.class),
     @JsonSubTypes.Type(name = "insensitive_contains", value = InsensitiveContainsSearchQuerySpec.class),
-    @JsonSubTypes.Type(name = "fragment", value = FragmentSearchQuerySpec.class)
+    @JsonSubTypes.Type(name = "fragment", value = FragmentSearchQuerySpec.class),
+    @JsonSubTypes.Type(name = "regex", value = RegexSearchQuerySpec.class)
 })
 public interface SearchQuerySpec
 {
diff --git a/processing/src/test/java/io/druid/query/search/RegexSearchQueryTest.java b/processing/src/test/java/io/druid/query/search/RegexSearchQueryTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ab6a1c4fc32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processing/src/test/java/io/druid/query/search/RegexSearchQueryTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+/*
+* Licensed to Metamarkets Group Inc. (Metamarkets) under one
+* or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file
+* distributed with this work for additional information
+* regarding copyright ownership. Metamarkets licenses this file
+* to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+* "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+* with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+*
+* http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+*
+* Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+* software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+* "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+* KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
+* specific language governing permissions and limitations
+* under the License.
+*/
+
+package io.druid.query.search;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import io.druid.jackson.DefaultObjectMapper;
+import io.druid.query.search.search.RegexSearchQuerySpec;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+public class RegexSearchQueryTest
+{
+  private static final ObjectMapper jsonMapper = new DefaultObjectMapper();
+
+  @Test
+  public void testQuerySerialization() throws IOException
+  {
+    RegexSearchQuerySpec spec = new RegexSearchQuerySpec("(upfront|total_market)");
+
+    String json = jsonMapper.writeValueAsString(spec);
+    RegexSearchQuerySpec serdeQuery = (RegexSearchQuerySpec) jsonMapper.readValue(json, RegexSearchQuerySpec.class);
+
+    Assert.assertEquals(spec, serdeQuery);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testRegexCompare()
+  {
+    RegexSearchQuerySpec rsq = new RegexSearchQuerySpec("^a.*b");
+    Assert.assertTrue(rsq.accept("aabb"));
+    Assert.assertFalse(rsq.accept("babba"));
+  }
+}