diff --git a/src/usr/bin/sbopkg b/src/usr/bin/sbopkg
index c380534..e3fed40 100755
--- a/src/usr/bin/sbopkg
+++ b/src/usr/bin/sbopkg
@@ -1493,7 +1493,7 @@ gen_search_package () {
     else
         if [ "$DIAG" = 1 ]; then
             dialog --title "ERROR" --msgbox "No match for $PKG found" 8 30
-            main_search
+            return
         else
             echo "$SCRIPT: No match for $PKG found." 1>&2
             continue
@@ -1501,6 +1501,73 @@ gen_search_package () {
     fi
 }
 
+string_search() {
+    local SEARCH_TERM="$1"
+    local REPO="$LOCALREPO/$SLACKVER"
+    local MENU_FILE=$TMP/sbopkg_menu-file
+    local PICKED_FILE=$TMP/sbopkg_picked-file
+    local PICKED
+
+    # the sed expression processes find's output into data usable for the menu
+    # file but the first two parts are needed to sanitize the input - which
+    # raises the question of true general sanitizing of this input
+    ( find $REPO -iname 'README' -exec egrep -iwm1 "$SEARCH_TERM" {} + |
+        sed "
+            s,\",\',g
+            s/\\\/\\\\\\\\/g
+            s,$REPO/,,
+            s/^/\"/
+            s,/README:,\" \",
+            s/$/\"/
+        " | sort > $MENU_FILE
+    ) 2>/dev/null
+
+    if ! [ -s $MENU_FILE ]; then
+        dialog --title "ERROR" --msgbox "No match for $SEARCH_TERM found" 8 30
+        return
+    fi
+
+    cd $REPO
+
+    while :; do
+        dialog --title "String Search Results" --default-item "$PICKED" \
+            --extra-button --extra-label "Add to Queue" \
+            --cancel-label "Back" \
+            --menu "$(crunch "Please select an item you wish to view or \
+                press <Add to Queue> to add it to the build queue or \
+                press <Back> to go back.")" 0 0 0 \
+            --file $MENU_FILE 2> $PICKED_FILE
+
+        BUTTON=$?
+        PICKED=$(cat $PICKED_FILE)
+
+        # duplicate (except slightly modified) code from gen_package_search()
+        SRCHCAT=${PICKED%%/*}
+        echo $SRCHCAT >$TMP/sbopkg_category_selection
+        SRCHPKG=${PICKED##*/}
+
+        case $BUTTON in
+            0)
+                echo $SRCHPKG > $TMP/sbopkg_item_selection
+                info_item
+                ;;
+            3)
+                SHORTPATH=$REPO/$SRCHCAT/$SRCHPKG
+                RVERSION=$(grep VERSION $SHORTPATH/$SRCHPKG.info |
+                    cut -d= -f2 | sed s/\"//g)
+                RBUILD=$(egrep -m1 "^BUILD" $SHORTPATH/$SRCHPKG.SlackBuild |
+                    sed -e 's/^.*[=-]//;s/\"//;s/[ #}\t].*$//g;s/\"//g')
+                add_item_to_queue $SRCHPKG $RVERSION-$RBUILD ON
+                continue
+                ;;
+            *)
+                rm -f $PICKED_FILE
+                return 0
+            ;;
+        esac
+    done
+}
+
 show_readme () {
     # Show the package's text files.
     cd $LOCALREPO/$SLACKVER
@@ -2401,17 +2468,59 @@ control_c () {
 }
 
 main_search() {
+    local TERM_FILE=$TMP/sbopkg_search_request
+    local PKG STRING SEARCH_TERM
+    local REPO="$LOCALREPO/$SLACKVER"
+
     check_if_repo_exists
-    dialog --inputbox \
-        "Enter the name of a package you would like to search for:" \
-        9 40 2>/$TMP/sbopkg_search_request
-    if [ $? != 0 ]; then
-        continue
-    fi
-    SRCH="$(cat $TMP/sbopkg_search_request)"
-    if [ ! "$SRCH" = "" ]; then
-        gen_search_package $SRCH
-    fi
+    while :; do
+        unset PKG STRING
+
+        dialog --title "Search" --ok-label "PKG" \
+            --extra-button --extra-label "String" \
+            --help-button --inputbox \
+            "Enter your search term..." 8 39 2> $TERM_FILE
+        case $? in # 0=PKG 3=String 1=Cancel 2=Help
+            3) STRING=yes ;;
+            2) dialog --title "Search Help" --msgbox \
+                "$(crunch "This widget provides the choice of a package \
+                <PKG> search or a string <String> search.\n\nThe package \
+                search executes a glob search on package names in \
+                $REPO.\n\nThe string search executes 'grep -iwm1 \
+                \"<your_string>\"' on the README files in the repo. This \
+                means it returns the first matching line from the README \
+                files, where the line contains a case-insensitive word \
+                that matches your string, where a 'word' is a sequence of \
+                alphanumeric characters and underscores. For details, see \
+                the egrep(1) manual page.")" 0 0
+                continue
+                ;;
+            0) PKG=yes ;;
+            *) return ;;
+        esac
+
+        if [ -s $TERM_FILE ]; then
+            SEARCH_TERM="$(cat $TERM_FILE)"
+            # I can't make sure every input makes sense, but I can at least
+            # clear out this area of (fairly improbable) glitches
+            if [[ $SEARCH_TERM =~ "^[\\\.\*\^\$\[\{\(\)\+\?\|]$" ]]; then
+                dialog --msgbox "$(crunch "If you are searching for the \
+                literal character '$SEARCH_TERM', then you will need to \
+                escape it with a backslash like '\\\\$SEARCH_TERM'.\n\nIf you \
+                are still not getting the expected results, remember that \
+                this is a word match - try adding '.*'")" 0 0
+                continue
+            fi
+        else
+            return
+        fi
+
+        if [[ $PKG == yes ]]; then
+            gen_search_package "$SEARCH_TERM"
+        elif [[ $STRING == yes ]]; then
+            string_search "$SEARCH_TERM"
+        fi
+    done
 }
 
 main_updates () {