diff --git a/app/controllers/topics_controller.rb b/app/controllers/topics_controller.rb
index 055215bfcbf..c51774fe187 100644
--- a/app/controllers/topics_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/topics_controller.rb
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ class TopicsController < ApplicationController
     raise Discourse::InvalidParameters.new(:title) if title.length < SiteSetting.min_title_similar_length
     raise Discourse::InvalidParameters.new(:raw) if raw.length < SiteSetting.min_body_similar_length
 
-    topics = Topic.similar_to(title, raw)
+    topics = Topic.similar_to(title, raw, current_user)
     render_serialized(topics, BasicTopicSerializer)
   end
 
diff --git a/app/models/topic.rb b/app/models/topic.rb
index 25e76157c39..08161471fd5 100644
--- a/app/models/topic.rb
+++ b/app/models/topic.rb
@@ -98,16 +98,19 @@ class Topic < ActiveRecord::Base
 
   scope :secured, lambda {|guardian|
     ids = guardian.secure_category_ids if guardian
+
+    # Query conditions
     condition =
       if ids.present?
         ["NOT c.secure or c.id in (:cats)", cats: ids]
       else
         ["NOT c.secure"]
       end
-      where("category_id IS NULL OR category_id IN (
-                SELECT c.id FROM categories c
-                WHERE #{condition[0]})", condition[1])
-   }
+
+    where("category_id IS NULL OR category_id IN (
+           SELECT c.id FROM categories c
+           WHERE #{condition[0]})", condition[1])
+  }
 
   # Helps us limit how many favorites can be made in a day
   class FavoriteLimiter < RateLimiter
@@ -234,7 +237,7 @@ class Topic < ActiveRecord::Base
   end
 
   # Search for similar topics
-  def self.similar_to(title, raw)
+  def self.similar_to(title, raw, user=nil)
     return [] unless title.present?
     return [] unless raw.present?
 
@@ -242,6 +245,7 @@ class Topic < ActiveRecord::Base
     Topic.select(sanitize_sql_array(["topics.*, similarity(topics.title, :title) AS similarity", title: title]))
          .visible
          .where(closed: false, archived: false)
+         .secured(Guardian.new(user))
          .listable_topics
          .limit(SiteSetting.max_similar_results)
          .order('similarity desc')
diff --git a/spec/controllers/topics_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/topics_controller_spec.rb
index d78bb3d23f5..ba910a33fc2 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/topics_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/topics_controller_spec.rb
@@ -162,10 +162,19 @@ describe TopicsController do
     end
 
     it "delegates to Topic.similar_to" do
-      Topic.expects(:similar_to).with(title, raw).returns([Fabricate(:topic)])
+      Topic.expects(:similar_to).with(title, raw, nil).returns([Fabricate(:topic)])
       xhr :get, :similar_to, title: title, raw: raw
     end
 
+    context "logged in" do
+      let(:user) { log_in }
+
+      it "passes a user throught if logged in" do
+        Topic.expects(:similar_to).with(title, raw, user).returns([Fabricate(:topic)])
+        xhr :get, :similar_to, title: title, raw: raw
+      end
+    end
+
   end
 
 
diff --git a/spec/models/topic_spec.rb b/spec/models/topic_spec.rb
index 0c7f4ba4c58..007c4a41cfb 100644
--- a/spec/models/topic_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/topic_spec.rb
@@ -175,6 +175,26 @@ describe Topic do
         Topic.similar_to("has evil trout made any topics?", "i am wondering has evil trout made any topics?").should == [topic]
       end
 
+      context "secure categories" do
+
+        let(:user) { Fabricate(:user) }
+        let(:category) { Fabricate(:category, secure: true) }
+
+        before do
+          topic.category = category
+          topic.save
+        end
+
+        it "doesn't return topics from private categories" do
+          expect(Topic.similar_to("has evil trout made any topics?", "i am wondering has evil trout made any topics?", user)).to be_blank
+        end
+
+        it "should return the cat since the user can see it" do
+          Guardian.any_instance.expects(:secure_category_ids).returns([category.id])
+          expect(Topic.similar_to("has evil trout made any topics?", "i am wondering has evil trout made any topics?", user)).to include(topic)
+        end
+      end
+
     end
 
   end