diff --git a/libnautilus-private/nautilus-search-engine-simple.c b/libnautilus-private/nautilus-search-engine-simple.c
index a357704..820b4bf 100644
--- a/libnautilus-private/nautilus-search-engine-simple.c
+++ b/libnautilus-private/nautilus-search-engine-simple.c
@@ -249,6 +249,13 @@ visit_directory (GFile *dir, SearchThreadData *data)
 			}
 		}
 		g_free (lower_name);
+
+		/* special-case the "*" query */
+		if (data->words[0] != NULL && data->words[1] == NULL) {
+			if (!strcmp (data->words[0], "*")) {
+				hit = TRUE;
+			}
+		}
 		
 		if (hit && data->mime_types) {
 			mime_type = g_file_info_get_content_type (info);
