diff --git a/app/models/person.rb b/app/models/person.rb
index 66b9994b5..b21d3ef21 100644
--- a/app/models/person.rb
+++ b/app/models/person.rb
@@ -45,13 +45,22 @@ class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
   scope :searchable, joins(:profile).where(:profiles => {:searchable => true})
 
   def self.search_query_string(query)
-    where_clause = <<-SQL
-      profiles.first_name LIKE ? OR
-      profiles.last_name LIKE ? OR
-      people.diaspora_handle LIKE ? OR
-      profiles.first_name LIKE ? OR
-      profiles.last_name LIKE ?
-    SQL
+    if postgres?
+      where_clause = <<-SQL
+        profiles.first_name ILIKE ? OR
+        profiles.last_name ILIKE ? OR
+        people.diaspora_handle ILIKE ?
+      SQL
+    else
+      where_clause = <<-SQL
+        profiles.first_name LIKE ? OR
+        profiles.last_name LIKE ? OR
+        people.diaspora_handle LIKE ? OR
+        profiles.first_name LIKE ? OR
+        profiles.last_name LIKE ?
+      SQL
+    end
+
     sql = ""
     tokens = []
 
@@ -62,7 +71,7 @@ class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
       sql << " OR " unless i == 0
       sql << where_clause
       tokens.concat([token, token, token])
-      tokens.concat([up_token, up_token])
+      tokens.concat([up_token, up_token]) unless postgres?
     end
     [sql, tokens]
   end
diff --git a/config/environment.rb b/config/environment.rb
index ba7e062ed..471ec22f5 100644
--- a/config/environment.rb
+++ b/config/environment.rb
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
 #   licensed under the Affero General Public License version 3 or later.  See
 #   the COPYRIGHT file.
 
+# check what database you have
+def postgres?
+  @using_postgres ||= defined?(ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::PostgreSQLAdapter) && ActiveRecord::Base.connection.is_a?(ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::PostgreSQLAdapter)
+end
+
 # Load the rails application
 require File.expand_path('../application', __FILE__)
 Haml::Template.options[:format] = :html5
@@ -36,8 +41,3 @@ module Devise
     end
   end
 end
-
-# check what database you have
-def postgres?
-  @using_postgres ||= defined?(ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::PostgreSQLAdapter) && ActiveRecord::Base.connection.is_a?(ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::PostgreSQLAdapter)
-end