diff --git a/app/controllers/search_controller.rb b/app/controllers/search_controller.rb
index a7ba001214a..7dc0421b6f9 100644
--- a/app/controllers/search_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/search_controller.rb
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class SearchController < ApplicationController
       # A user is found by username
       context_obj = nil
       if search_context[:type] == 'user'
-        context_obj = klass.where(username: params[:search_context][:id]).first
+        context_obj = klass.where(username_lower: params[:search_context][:id].downcase).first
       else
         context_obj = klass.where(id: params[:search_context][:id]).first
       end