diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/solr/search/SolrIndexReader.java b/src/java/org/apache/solr/search/SolrIndexReader.java
index 2db21360956..4aaf520715b 100755
--- a/src/java/org/apache/solr/search/SolrIndexReader.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/solr/search/SolrIndexReader.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import org.apache.lucene.document.FieldSelector;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
 
 /** Solr wrapper for IndexReader that contains extra context.
  * This is currently experimental, for internal use only, and subject to change.
@@ -153,6 +154,7 @@ public class SolrIndexReader extends FilterIndexReader {
     StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
     sb.append("SolrIndexReader{this=").append(Integer.toHexString(this.hashCode()));
     sb.append(",r=").append(shortName(in));
+    sb.append(",refCnt=").append(getRefCount());
     sb.append(",segments=");
     sb.append(subReaders == null ? 1 : subReaders.length);
     if (parent != null) {
@@ -332,7 +334,9 @@ public class SolrIndexReader extends FilterIndexReader {
   // protected void doCommit() throws IOException { in.commit(); }
 
   @Override
-  protected void doClose() throws IOException { in.close(); }
+  protected void doClose() throws IOException {
+    in.close();
+  }
 
   @Override
   public Collection getFieldNames(IndexReader.FieldOption fieldNames) {
@@ -372,6 +376,38 @@ public class SolrIndexReader extends FilterIndexReader {
     return in.equals(o);
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public int getRefCount() {
+    return in.getRefCount();
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public IndexReader reopen(IndexCommit commit) throws CorruptIndexException, IOException {
+    return in.reopen(commit);
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public Object clone() {
+    // hmmm, is this right?
+    return super.clone();
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public IndexReader clone(boolean openReadOnly) throws CorruptIndexException, IOException {
+    // hmmm, is this right?
+    return super.clone(openReadOnly);
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public Map getCommitUserData() {
+    return in.getCommitUserData();
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public long getUniqueTermCount() throws IOException {
+    return super.getUniqueTermCount();
+  }
+
   @Override
   public SolrIndexReader reopen(boolean openReadOnly) throws IOException {
     IndexReader r = in.reopen(openReadOnly);
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/solr/search/SolrIndexSearcher.java b/src/java/org/apache/solr/search/SolrIndexSearcher.java
index c27514d38dd..a648d72cd92 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/solr/search/SolrIndexSearcher.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/solr/search/SolrIndexSearcher.java
@@ -227,14 +227,14 @@ public class SolrIndexSearcher extends IndexSearcher implements SolrInfoMBean {
       log.debug("Closing " + name);
     }
     core.getInfoRegistry().remove(name);
-    try {
-      super.close();
-    }
-    finally {
-      if(closeReader) reader.close();
-      for (SolrCache cache : cacheList) {
-        cache.close();
-      }
+
+    // super.close();
+    // can't use super.close() since it just calls reader.close() and that may only be called once
+    // per reader (even if incRef() was previously called).
+    if (closeReader) reader.decRef();
+
+    for (SolrCache cache : cacheList) {
+      cache.close();
     }
   }
 
@@ -624,6 +624,7 @@ public class SolrIndexSearcher extends IndexSearcher implements SolrInfoMBean {
 
   // query must be positive
   protected DocSet getDocSetNC(Query query, DocSet filter) throws IOException {
+    query = QueryUtils.simplifyQuery(query);
     DocSetCollector collector = new DocSetCollector(maxDoc()>>6, maxDoc());
 
     if (filter==null) {
diff --git a/src/test/org/apache/solr/search/TestIndexSearcher.java b/src/test/org/apache/solr/search/TestIndexSearcher.java
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..37f9e8bf910
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/org/apache/solr/search/TestIndexSearcher.java
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+/**
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF 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 org.apache.solr.search;
+
+import org.apache.solr.util.AbstractSolrTestCase;
+import org.apache.solr.request.SolrQueryRequest;
+
+public class TestIndexSearcher extends AbstractSolrTestCase {
+
+  public String getSchemaFile() { return "schema11.xml"; }
+  public String getSolrConfigFile() { return "solrconfig.xml"; }
+  public String getCoreName() { return "basic"; }
+
+
+  public void setUp() throws Exception {
+    // if you override setUp or tearDown, you better call
+    // the super classes version
+    super.setUp();
+  }
+  public void tearDown() throws Exception {
+    // if you override setUp or tearDown, you better call
+    // the super classes version
+    super.tearDown();
+  }
+
+
+  public void testReopen() {
+    assertU(adoc("id","1", "v_t","Hello Dude"));
+    assertU(adoc("id","2", "v_t","Hello Yonik"));
+    assertU(commit());
+
+    SolrQueryRequest sr1 = req("q","foo");
+    SolrIndexReader r1 = sr1.getSearcher().getReader();
+
+    assertU(adoc("id","3", "v_s","{!literal}"));
+    assertU(adoc("id","4", "v_s","other stuff"));
+    assertU(commit());
+
+    SolrQueryRequest sr2 = req("q","foo");
+    SolrIndexReader r2 = sr2.getSearcher().getReader();
+
+    // make sure the readers share the first segment
+    // TODO: doesn't currently work going from segment -> multi
+    // assertEquals(r1.getLeafReaders()[0], r2.getLeafReaders()[0]);
+
+    assertU(adoc("id","5", "v_f","3.14159"));
+    assertU(adoc("id","6", "v_f","8983"));
+    assertU(commit());
+
+    SolrQueryRequest sr3 = req("q","foo");
+    SolrIndexReader r3 = sr3.getSearcher().getReader();
+    // make sure the readers share segments
+    // assertEquals(r1.getLeafReaders()[0], r3.getLeafReaders()[0]);
+    assertEquals(r2.getLeafReaders()[0], r3.getLeafReaders()[0]);
+    assertEquals(r2.getLeafReaders()[1], r3.getLeafReaders()[1]);
+
+    sr1.close();
+    sr2.close();            
+
+    // should currently be 1, but this could change depending on future index management
+    int baseRefCount = r3.getRefCount();
+    assertEquals(1, baseRefCount);
+
+    assertU(commit());
+    SolrQueryRequest sr4 = req("q","foo");
+    SolrIndexReader r4 = sr4.getSearcher().getReader();
+
+    // force an index change so the registered searcher won't be the one we are testing (and
+    // then we should be able to test the refCount going all the way to 0
+    assertU(adoc("id","7", "v_f","7574"));
+    assertU(commit()); 
+
+    // test that reader didn't change (according to equals at least... which uses the wrapped reader)
+    assertEquals(r3,r4);
+    assertEquals(baseRefCount+1, r4.getRefCount());
+    sr3.close();
+    assertEquals(baseRefCount, r4.getRefCount());
+    sr4.close();
+    assertEquals(baseRefCount-1, r4.getRefCount());
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file