diff --git a/hapi-fhir-docs/src/main/resources/ca/uhn/hapi/fhir/changelog/6_6_0/4613-chained-special-params.yaml b/hapi-fhir-docs/src/main/resources/ca/uhn/hapi/fhir/changelog/6_6_0/4613-chained-special-params.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c48224468fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hapi-fhir-docs/src/main/resources/ca/uhn/hapi/fhir/changelog/6_6_0/4613-chained-special-params.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+type: fix
+issue: 4613
+jira: SMILE-6091
+title: "Previously, SPECIAL search parameters that were _not_ nearness parameters, such as simple string Search Parameters, could not be used in chained queries. This has been resolved, and now queries like `OrganizationAffiliation?location.some-special-param=abc` will work as intended."
diff --git a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/search/builder/predicate/ResourceLinkPredicateBuilder.java b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/search/builder/predicate/ResourceLinkPredicateBuilder.java
index 73f9c46af6b..fe497c7dfbe 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/search/builder/predicate/ResourceLinkPredicateBuilder.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/search/builder/predicate/ResourceLinkPredicateBuilder.java
@@ -664,11 +664,8 @@ public class ResourceLinkPredicateBuilder
 				qp = new ReferenceParam();
 				break;
 			case SPECIAL:
-				if ("Location.position".equals(theParam.getPath())) {
 					qp = new SpecialParam();
 					break;
-				}
-				throw new InternalErrorException(Msg.code(1248) + "Don't know how to convert param type: " + theParam.getParamType());
 			case URI:
 				qp = new UriParam();
 				break;
diff --git a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-test-dstu3/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/dstu3/FhirResourceDaoDstu3SearchDistanceTest.java b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-test-dstu3/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/dstu3/FhirResourceDaoDstu3SearchDistanceTest.java
index 4da9846868d..b7e520ee335 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-test-dstu3/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/dstu3/FhirResourceDaoDstu3SearchDistanceTest.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-test-dstu3/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/dstu3/FhirResourceDaoDstu3SearchDistanceTest.java
@@ -67,6 +67,10 @@ public class FhirResourceDaoDstu3SearchDistanceTest extends BaseJpaDstu3Test {
 		assertThat(ids, contains(locId));
 	}
 
+
+	@Test
+	public void testNearSearchChained() {
+	}
 	@Test
 	public void testNearSearchApproximate() {
 		Location loc = new Location();
diff --git a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-test-r4/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/r4/FhirResourceDaoR4SearchDistanceTest.java b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-test-r4/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/r4/FhirResourceDaoR4SearchDistanceTest.java
index e3386ad110f..746c107ce90 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-test-r4/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/r4/FhirResourceDaoR4SearchDistanceTest.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-jpaserver-test-r4/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/dao/r4/FhirResourceDaoR4SearchDistanceTest.java
@@ -4,7 +4,13 @@ import ca.uhn.fhir.jpa.searchparam.MatchUrlService;
 import ca.uhn.fhir.jpa.searchparam.SearchParameterMap;
 import ca.uhn.fhir.jpa.test.BaseJpaR4Test;
 import ca.uhn.fhir.jpa.util.CoordCalculatorTestUtil;
+import ca.uhn.fhir.rest.api.server.SystemRequestDetails;
+import org.hl7.fhir.instance.model.api.IIdType;
+import org.hl7.fhir.r4.model.Enumerations;
 import org.hl7.fhir.r4.model.Location;
+import org.hl7.fhir.r4.model.OrganizationAffiliation;
+import org.hl7.fhir.r4.model.Reference;
+import org.hl7.fhir.r4.model.SearchParameter;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
@@ -42,6 +48,65 @@ public class FhirResourceDaoR4SearchDistanceTest extends BaseJpaR4Test {
 		assertThat(ids, contains(locId));
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testNearSearchDistanceChained() {
+		Location location = new Location();
+		double latitude = CoordCalculatorTestUtil.LATITUDE_CHIN;
+		double longitude = CoordCalculatorTestUtil.LATITUDE_CHIN;
+		Location.LocationPositionComponent position = new Location.LocationPositionComponent().setLatitude(latitude).setLongitude(longitude);
+		location.setPosition(position);
+
+		IIdType id = myLocationDao.create(location).getId();
+
+		OrganizationAffiliation aff = new OrganizationAffiliation();
+		aff.addLocation(new Reference(id));
+		IIdType affId = myOrganizationAffiliationDao.create(aff).getId();
+		SearchParameterMap map = myMatchUrlService.translateMatchUrl("OrganizationAffiliation?location." + Location.SP_NEAR + "=" + latitude + "|" + longitude, myFhirContext.getResourceDefinition("OrganizationAffiliation"));
+
+		List<String> ids = toUnqualifiedVersionlessIdValues(myOrganizationAffiliationDao.search(map));
+		assertThat(ids, contains(affId.toUnqualifiedVersionless().toString()));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testNearSearchDistanceOnSpecialParameterChained() {
+		//Given a special SP exists
+		SearchParameter parameter = new SearchParameter();
+		parameter.setId("location-postalcode-near");
+		parameter.setName("arbitrary-name");
+		parameter.setStatus(Enumerations.PublicationStatus.ACTIVE);
+		parameter.setCode("postalcode-near");
+		parameter.addBase("Location");
+		parameter.setType(Enumerations.SearchParamType.SPECIAL);
+		parameter.setExpression("Location.address.postalCode");
+		mySearchParameterDao.update(parameter, new SystemRequestDetails());
+
+		//And given an OrganizationAffiliation->Location reference
+		Location location = new Location();
+		location.getAddress().setPostalCode("60108");
+		IIdType locId = myLocationDao.create(location).getId();
+
+		OrganizationAffiliation aff = new OrganizationAffiliation();
+		aff.addLocation(new Reference(locId));
+		IIdType affId = myOrganizationAffiliationDao.create(aff).getId();
+
+		{
+			//When: We search on the location
+			SearchParameterMap map = myMatchUrlService.translateMatchUrl("Location?postalcode-near=60108", myFhirContext.getResourceDefinition("Location"));
+			List<String> ids = toUnqualifiedVersionlessIdValues(myLocationDao.search(map));
+			//Then: it should find the location
+			assertThat(ids, contains(locId.toUnqualifiedVersionless().toString()));
+		}
+
+		{
+			//When: We search on the OrganizationAffiliation via its location in a chain
+			SearchParameterMap map = myMatchUrlService.translateMatchUrl("OrganizationAffiliation?location.postalcode-near=60108", myFhirContext.getResourceDefinition("OrganizationAffiliation"));
+			List<String> ids = toUnqualifiedVersionlessIdValues(myOrganizationAffiliationDao.search(map));
+
+			//Then: It should find the OrganizationAffiliation
+			assertThat(ids, contains(affId.toUnqualifiedVersionless().toString()));
+		}
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void testNearSearchDistanceZero() {
 		Location loc = new Location();