diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 6f4b321ef..c7d8e4786 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -188,6 +188,8 @@ Bugs fixed
 * HTML: Invalid HTML5 file is generated for a glossary having multiple terms for
   one description (refs: #4611)
 * QtHelp: OS dependent path separator is used in .qhp file
+* HTML search: search always returns nothing when multiple search terms are
+  used and one term is shorter than three characters
 
 Testing
 --------
diff --git a/sphinx/themes/basic/static/searchtools.js b/sphinx/themes/basic/static/searchtools.js
index d462f76e2..e15d80036 100644
--- a/sphinx/themes/basic/static/searchtools.js
+++ b/sphinx/themes/basic/static/searchtools.js
@@ -443,8 +443,12 @@ var Search = {
       var valid = true;
 
       // check if all requirements are matched
-      if (fileMap[file].length != searchterms.length)
-          continue;
+      var filteredTermCount = // as search terms with length < 3 are discarded: ignore
+        searchterms.filter(function(term){return term.length > 2}).length
+      if (
+        fileMap[file].length != searchterms.length &&
+        fileMap[file].length != filteredTermCount
+      ) continue;
 
       // ensure that none of the excluded terms is in the search result
       for (i = 0; i < excluded.length; i++) {