diff --git a/sphinx/websupport/search/__init__.py b/sphinx/websupport/search/__init__.py
index d41b560c3..0e613222e 100644
--- a/sphinx/websupport/search/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinx/websupport/search/__init__.py
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ class BaseSearch(object):
         query `q`. This should return an iterable containing tuples of the
         following format::
 
-            (<path>, <title> <context>)
+            (<path>, <title>, <context>)
 
         `path` and `title` are the same values that were passed to
         :meth:`add_document`, and `context` should be a short text snippet
diff --git a/sphinx/websupport/search/whooshsearch.py b/sphinx/websupport/search/whooshsearch.py
index 658b764dd..257393a6a 100644
--- a/sphinx/websupport/search/whooshsearch.py
+++ b/sphinx/websupport/search/whooshsearch.py
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ class WhooshSearch(BaseSearch):
 
     def finish_indexing(self):
         self.index_writer.commit()
+        # Create a new searcher so changes can be seen immediately
+        self.searcher = self.index.searcher()
 
     def add_document(self, pagename, title, text):
         self.index_writer.add_document(path=unicode(pagename),
diff --git a/tests/test_websupport.py b/tests/test_websupport.py
index 3d61e55c2..3f352cd6c 100644
--- a/tests/test_websupport.py
+++ b/tests/test_websupport.py
@@ -78,9 +78,32 @@ def search_adapter_helper(adapter):
     settings.update({'srcdir': test_root,
                      'search': adapter})
     support = WebSupport(**settings)
-    
     support.build()
 
+    s = support.search
+
+    # Test the adapters query method. A search for "Epigraph" should return
+    # one result.
+    results = s.query(u'Epigraph')
+    assert len(results) == 1, \
+        '%s search adapter returned %s search result(s), should have been 1'\
+        % (adapter, len(results))
+
+    # Make sure documents are properly updated by the search adapter.
+    s.init_indexing(changed=['markup'])
+    s.add_document(u'markup', u'title', u'SomeLongRandomWord')
+    s.finish_indexing()
+    # Now a search for "Epigraph" should return zero results.
+    results = s.query(u'Epigraph')
+    assert len(results) == 0, \
+        '%s search adapter returned %s search result(s), should have been 0'\
+        % (adapter, len(results))
+    # A search for "SomeLongRandomWord" should return one result.
+    results = s.query(u'SomeLongRandomWord')
+    assert len(results) == 1, \
+        '%s search adapter returned %s search result(s), should have been 1'\
+        % (adapter, len(results))
+    
 
 def test_xapian():
     # Don't run tests if xapian is not installed.