diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/db.py b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/db.py
index 0ee019f38..732de6195 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/db.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/db.py
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ class DBSearchQuery(BaseSearchQuery):
                 for field_name in fields:
                     # Check if the field exists (this will filter out indexed callables)
                     try:
-                        model._meta.get_field_by_name(field_name)
-                    except:
+                        model._meta.get_field(field_name)
+                    except models.fields.FieldDoesNotExist:
                         continue
 
                     # Filter on this field
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/index.py b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/index.py
index 9d66cf9f8..b769c34e6 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/index.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/index.py
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ class BaseField(object):
         self.kwargs = kwargs
 
     def get_field(self, cls):
-        return cls._meta.get_field_by_name(self.field_name)[0]
+        return cls._meta.get_field(self.field_name)
 
     def get_attname(self, cls):
         try: