diff --git a/wagtail/contrib/postgres_search/backend.py b/wagtail/contrib/postgres_search/backend.py
index 83c2ad16d..9fe538980 100644
--- a/wagtail/contrib/postgres_search/backend.py
+++ b/wagtail/contrib/postgres_search/backend.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from django.db.models.functions import Cast
 from django.utils.encoding import force_text
 
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.backends.base import (
-    BaseSearchBackend, SearchQueryCompiler, BaseSearchResults)
+    BaseSearchBackend, BaseSearchQueryCompiler, BaseSearchResults)
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.index import RelatedFields, SearchField
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.query import MatchAll, PlainText
 
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ class Index(object):
         return self.name
 
 
-class PostgresSearchQueryCompiler(SearchQueryCompiler):
+class PostgresSearchQueryCompiler(BaseSearchQueryCompiler):
     DEFAULT_OPERATOR = 'and'
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/base.py b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/base.py
index 9ff3d6d1e..9cf04d5c9 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/base.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/base.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ class FieldError(Exception):
     pass
 
 
-class SearchQueryCompiler(object):
+class BaseSearchQueryCompiler(object):
     DEFAULT_OPERATOR = 'or'
 
     def __init__(self, queryset, query, fields=None, operator=None, order_by_relevance=True):
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/db.py b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/db.py
index 4aa9f40d5..cc2ae42bd 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/db.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/db.py
@@ -4,11 +4,11 @@ from django.db import models
 from django.db.models.expressions import Value
 
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.backends.base import (
-    BaseSearchBackend, SearchQueryCompiler, BaseSearchResults)
+    BaseSearchBackend, BaseSearchQueryCompiler, BaseSearchResults)
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.query import MatchAll, PlainText
 
 
-class DatabaseSearchQueryCompiler(SearchQueryCompiler):
+class DatabaseSearchQueryCompiler(BaseSearchQueryCompiler):
     DEFAULT_OPERATOR = 'and'
 
     def _process_lookup(self, field, lookup, value):
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch2.py b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch2.py
index 3e59f2c58..320479f1a 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch2.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch2.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ from elasticsearch.helpers import bulk
 
 from wagtail.utils.utils import deep_update
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.backends.base import (
-    BaseSearchBackend, SearchQueryCompiler, BaseSearchResults)
+    BaseSearchBackend, BaseSearchQueryCompiler, BaseSearchResults)
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.index import (
     FilterField, Indexed, RelatedFields, SearchField, class_is_indexed)
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.query import MatchAll, PlainText
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ class Elasticsearch2Mapping(object):
         return '<ElasticsearchMapping: %s>' % (self.model.__name__, )
 
 
-class Elasticsearch2SearchQueryCompiler(SearchQueryCompiler):
+class Elasticsearch2SearchQueryCompiler(BaseSearchQueryCompiler):
     mapping_class = Elasticsearch2Mapping
     DEFAULT_OPERATOR = 'or'
 
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/query.py b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/query.py
index 37be41e27..3df8e4bb3 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/query.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/query.py
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+from __future__ import absolute_import, unicode_literals
+
+
 class SearchQuery:
     def __and__(self, other):
         return And([self, other])