diff --git a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
index be74190f803..bec832bdbd4 100644
--- a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
@@ -710,24 +710,18 @@ class UsersController < ApplicationController
 
     to_render = { users: results.as_json(only: user_fields, methods: [:avatar_template]) }
 
-    if params[:include_groups] == "true"
-      to_render[:groups] = Group.search_group(term).map do |m|
-        { name: m.name, full_name: m.full_name }
-      end
-    end
-
-    if current_user
-      groups =
+    groups =
+      if current_user
         if params[:include_mentionable_groups] == 'true'
           Group.mentionable(current_user)
         elsif params[:include_messageable_groups] == 'true'
           Group.messageable(current_user)
         end
-
-      if groups
-        to_render[:groups] = groups.where("name ILIKE :term_like", term_like: "#{term}%")
-          .map { |m| { name: m.name, full_name: m.full_name } }
       end
+
+    if groups || params[:include_groups] == "true"
+      to_render[:groups] = Group.search_groups(term, groups: groups)
+        .map { |m| { name: m.name, full_name: m.full_name } }
     end
 
     render json: to_render
diff --git a/app/models/group.rb b/app/models/group.rb
index bf2c2147b6d..226b0555b04 100644
--- a/app/models/group.rb
+++ b/app/models/group.rb
@@ -369,10 +369,14 @@ class Group < ActiveRecord::Base
     lookup_group(name) || refresh_automatic_group!(name)
   end
 
-  def self.search_group(name)
-    Group.where(visibility_level: visibility_levels[:public]).where(
-      "name ILIKE :term_like OR full_name ILIKE :term_like", term_like: "#{name}%"
-    )
+  def self.search_groups(name, groups: nil)
+    query = groups || Group
+
+    query
+      .where(visibility_level: visibility_levels[:public])
+      .where(
+        "name ILIKE :term_like OR full_name ILIKE :term_like", term_like: "%#{name}%"
+      )
   end
 
   def self.lookup_group(name)
diff --git a/spec/models/group_spec.rb b/spec/models/group_spec.rb
index 3920a7da43c..fbdb7c9505f 100644
--- a/spec/models/group_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/group_spec.rb
@@ -556,17 +556,21 @@ describe Group do
     end
   end
 
-  describe '.search_group' do
-    let(:group) { Fabricate(:group, name: 'tEsT', full_name: 'eSTt') }
+  describe '.search_groups' do
+    let(:group) { Fabricate(:group, name: 'tEsT_more_things', full_name: 'Abc something awesome') }
 
     it 'should return the right groups' do
       group
 
-      expect(Group.search_group('te')).to eq([group])
-      expect(Group.search_group('TE')).to eq([group])
-      expect(Group.search_group('es')).to eq([group])
-      expect(Group.search_group('ES')).to eq([group])
-      expect(Group.search_group('test2')).to eq([])
+      expect(Group.search_groups('te')).to eq([group])
+      expect(Group.search_groups('TE')).to eq([group])
+      expect(Group.search_groups('es')).to eq([group])
+      expect(Group.search_groups('ES')).to eq([group])
+      expect(Group.search_groups('ngs')).to eq([group])
+      expect(Group.search_groups('sOmEthi')).to eq([group])
+      expect(Group.search_groups('abc')).to eq([group])
+      expect(Group.search_groups('sOmEthi')).to eq([group])
+      expect(Group.search_groups('test2')).to eq([])
     end
   end