diff --git a/app/models/person.rb b/app/models/person.rb
index 02fd76dc2..61ff6a2bd 100644
--- a/app/models/person.rb
+++ b/app/models/person.rb
@@ -39,18 +39,24 @@ class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
 
   def self.search(query)
     return [] if query.to_s.empty?
-    query_tokens = query.to_s.strip.split(" ")
-    p = []
 
-    query_tokens.each do |raw_token|
+    where_clause = <<-SQL
+      profiles.first_name LIKE ? OR
+      profiles.last_name LIKE ? OR
+      people.diaspora_handle LIKE ?
+    SQL
+    sql = ""
+    tokens = []
+
+    query_tokens = query.to_s.strip.split(" ")
+    query_tokens.each_with_index do |raw_token, i|
       token = "%#{raw_token}%"
-      p = Person.searchable.where('profiles.first_name LIKE :token', :token => token).limit(30) \
- | Person.searchable.where('profiles.last_name LIKE :token', :token => token).limit(30) \
- | Person.searchable.where('profiles.diaspora_handle LIKE :token', :token => token).limit(30) \
- | p
+      sql << " OR " unless i == 0
+      sql << where_clause
+      tokens.concat([token, token, token])
     end
 
-    return p
+    Person.searchable.where(sql, *tokens).order("profiles.first_name")
   end
 
   def name
diff --git a/spec/factories.rb b/spec/factories.rb
index 2d6a24a02..dc087c475 100644
--- a/spec/factories.rb
+++ b/spec/factories.rb
@@ -24,6 +24,12 @@ Factory.define :person do |p|
   p.serialized_public_key OpenSSL::PKey::RSA.generate(1024).public_key.export
 end
 
+Factory.define :searchable_person, :parent => :person do |p|
+  p.after_build do |person|
+    person.profile.searchable = true
+  end
+end
+
 Factory.define :user do |u|
   u.sequence(:username) { |n| "bob#{n}#{r_str}" }
   u.sequence(:email) { |n| "bob#{n}#{r_str}@pivotallabs.com" }
diff --git a/spec/models/person_spec.rb b/spec/models/person_spec.rb
index f0151e42d..d6df13f37 100644
--- a/spec/models/person_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/person_spec.rb
@@ -140,56 +140,57 @@ describe Person do
 
   describe '.search' do
     before do
-      @connected_person_one   = Factory.create(:person)
-      @connected_person_two   = Factory.create(:person)
-      @connected_person_three = Factory.create(:person)
-      @connected_person_four  = Factory.create(:person)
+      Person.delete_all
+      @robert_grimm = Factory.create(:searchable_person)
+      @eugene_weinstein = Factory.create(:searchable_person)
+      @yevgeniy_dodis = Factory.create(:searchable_person)
+      @casey_grippi = Factory.create(:searchable_person)
 
-      @connected_person_one.profile.first_name = "Robert"
-      @connected_person_one.profile.last_name  = "Grimm"
-      @connected_person_one.profile.save
+      @robert_grimm.profile.first_name = "Robert"
+      @robert_grimm.profile.last_name  = "Grimm"
+      @robert_grimm.profile.save
+      @robert_grimm.reload
 
-      @connected_person_two.profile.first_name = "Eugene"
-      @connected_person_two.profile.last_name  = "Weinstein"
-      @connected_person_two.save
+      @eugene_weinstein.profile.first_name = "Eugene"
+      @eugene_weinstein.profile.last_name  = "Weinstein"
+      @eugene_weinstein.profile.save
+      @eugene_weinstein.reload
 
-      @connected_person_three.profile.first_name = "Yevgeniy"
-      @connected_person_three.profile.last_name  = "Dodis"
-      @connected_person_three.save
+      @yevgeniy_dodis.profile.first_name = "Yevgeniy"
+      @yevgeniy_dodis.profile.last_name  = "Dodis"
+      @yevgeniy_dodis.profile.save
+      @yevgeniy_dodis.reload
 
-      @connected_person_four.profile.first_name = "Casey"
-      @connected_person_four.profile.last_name  = "Grippi"
-      @connected_person_four.save
+      @casey_grippi.profile.first_name = "Casey"
+      @casey_grippi.profile.last_name  = "Grippi"
+      @casey_grippi.profile.save
+      @casey_grippi.reload
     end
 
-    it 'should return nothing on an emprty query' do
+    it 'should return nothing on an empty query' do
       people = Person.search("")
       people.empty?.should be true
     end
 
     it 'should yield search results on partial names' do
       people = Person.search("Eu")
-      people.include?(@connected_person_two).should   == true
-      people.include?(@connected_person_one).should   == false
-      people.include?(@connected_person_three).should == false
-      people.include?(@connected_person_four).should  == false
+      people.count.should == 1
+      people.first.should == @eugene_weinstein
 
       people = Person.search("wEi")
-      people.include?(@connected_person_two).should   == true
-      people.include?(@connected_person_one).should   == false
-      people.include?(@connected_person_three).should == false
-      people.include?(@connected_person_four).should  == false
+      people.count.should == 1
+      people.first.should == @eugene_weinstein
 
       people = Person.search("gri")
-      people.include?(@connected_person_one).should   == true
-      people.include?(@connected_person_four).should  == true
-      people.include?(@connected_person_two).should   == false
-      people.include?(@connected_person_three).should == false
+      people.count.should == 2
+      people.first.should == @casey_grippi
+      people.second.should == @robert_grimm
     end
 
     it 'should yield results on full names' do
       people = Person.search("Casey Grippi")
-      people.should == [@connected_person_four]
+      people.count.should == 1
+      people.first.should == @casey_grippi
     end
 
     it 'should only display searchable people' do
@@ -199,7 +200,9 @@ describe Person do
     end
 
     it 'should search on handles' do
-      Person.search(@connected_person_one.diaspora_handle).should include @connected_person_one
+      people = Person.search(@robert_grimm.diaspora_handle)
+      people.count.should == 1
+      people.first.should == @robert_grimm
     end
   end