diff --git a/taiga/base/filters.py b/taiga/base/filters.py
index bea2ed3e..25287800 100644
--- a/taiga/base/filters.py
+++ b/taiga/base/filters.py
@@ -242,26 +242,12 @@ class TagsFilter(FilterBackend):
         return super().filter_queryset(request, queryset, view)
 
 
-class SearchFieldFilter(filters.SearchFilter):
-    """Search filter that looks up the search param in the parameter named after the search field,
-    that is: ?<search field>=... instead of looking for the search param: ?search=...
-    This way you can search in a field-specific way.
-    """
-    def get_search_terms(self, request, field):
-        params = request.QUERY_PARAMS.get(field, '')
-        return params.replace(',', ' ').split()
-
+class QFilter(FilterBackend):
     def filter_queryset(self, request, queryset, view):
-        search_fields = getattr(view, "search_fields", None)
-        if not search_fields:
-            return queryset
-
-        lookups = dict((self.construct_search(field), self.get_search_terms(request, field))
-                       for field in search_fields)
-
-        for lookup, values in lookups.items():
-            or_queries = [Q(**{lookup: value}) for value in values]
-            if or_queries:
-                queryset = queryset.filter(reduce(operator.or_, or_queries))
+        q = request.QUERY_PARAMS.get('q', None)
+        if q:
+            qs_args = [Q(subject__icontains=x) for x in q.split()]
+            qs_args += [Q(ref=x) for x in q.split() if x.isdigit()]
+            queryset = queryset.filter(reduce(operator.or_, qs_args))
 
         return queryset
diff --git a/taiga/projects/issues/api.py b/taiga/projects/issues/api.py
index 540d60c7..661925d6 100644
--- a/taiga/projects/issues/api.py
+++ b/taiga/projects/issues/api.py
@@ -109,12 +109,11 @@ class IssueViewSet(OCCResourceMixin, HistoryResourceMixin, WatchedResourceMixin,
     list_serializer_class = serializers.IssueSerializer
     permission_classes = (permissions.IssuePermission, )
 
-    filter_backends = (filters.CanViewIssuesFilterBackend, filters.SearchFieldFilter,
-                       IssuesFilter, IssuesOrdering)
+    filter_backends = (filters.CanViewIssuesFilterBackend, filters.QFilter,
+                       IssuesFilter, IssuesOrdering,)
     retrieve_exclude_filters = (IssuesFilter,)
 
     filter_fields = ("project",)
-    search_fields = ("subject",)
     order_by_fields = ("type",
                        "severity",
                        "status",
diff --git a/taiga/projects/userstories/api.py b/taiga/projects/userstories/api.py
index 53c2703d..91acfe98 100644
--- a/taiga/projects/userstories/api.py
+++ b/taiga/projects/userstories/api.py
@@ -46,10 +46,9 @@ class UserStoryViewSet(OCCResourceMixin, HistoryResourceMixin, WatchedResourceMi
     permission_classes = (permissions.UserStoryPermission,)
 
     filter_backends = (filters.CanViewUsFilterBackend, filters.TagsFilter,
-                       filters.SearchFieldFilter)
+                       filters.QFilter)
     retrieve_exclude_filters = (filters.TagsFilter,)
     filter_fields = ['project', 'milestone', 'milestone__isnull', 'status', 'is_archived']
-    search_fields = ('subject',)
 
     # Specific filter used for filtering neighbor user stories
     _neighbor_tags_filter = filters.TagsFilter('neighbor_tags')