diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/browse.html b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/browse.html
index c5e1e1a78..f1270dc47 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/browse.html
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/browse.html
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     {% trans "Choose a page" as choose_str %}
 {% endif %}
 
-{% include "wagtailadmin/shared/header.html" with title=choose_str subtitle=subtitle search_url="wagtailadmin_choose_page" query_parameters="page_type="|add:page_type_string icon="doc-empty-inverse" %}
+{% include "wagtailadmin/shared/header.html" with title=choose_str subtitle=subtitle search_url="wagtailadmin_choose_page_search" query_parameters="page_type="|add:page_type_string icon="doc-empty-inverse" %}
 
 <div class="nice-padding">
     {% include 'wagtailadmin/chooser/_link_types.html' with current='internal' %}
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/urls.py b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/urls.py
index 805e237e2..b16d9db67 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/urls.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/urls.py
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ urlpatterns = [
 
     url(r'^choose-page/$', chooser.browse, name='wagtailadmin_choose_page'),
     url(r'^choose-page/(\d+)/$', chooser.browse, name='wagtailadmin_choose_page_child'),
+    url(r'^choose-page/search/$', chooser.search, name='wagtailadmin_choose_page_search'),
     url(r'^choose-external-link/$', chooser.external_link, name='wagtailadmin_choose_page_external_link'),
     url(r'^choose-email-link/$', chooser.email_link, name='wagtailadmin_choose_page_email_link'),
 
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/chooser.py b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/chooser.py
index a177daddf..282b61571 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/chooser.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/chooser.py
@@ -22,32 +22,20 @@ def browse(request, parent_page_id=None):
     page_type = request.GET.get('page_type') or 'wagtailcore.page'
     content_type_app_name, content_type_model_name = page_type.split('.')
 
-    is_searching = False
-    page_types_restricted = page_type != 'wagtailcore.page'
-
     try:
         content_type = ContentType.objects.get_by_natural_key(content_type_app_name, content_type_model_name)
     except ContentType.DoesNotExist:
         raise Http404
     desired_class = content_type.model_class()
 
-    if 'q' in request.GET:
-        search_form = SearchForm(request.GET)
-        if search_form.is_valid() and search_form.cleaned_data['q']:
-            pages = desired_class.objects.exclude(
-                depth=1  # never include root
-            ).filter(title__icontains=search_form.cleaned_data['q'])[:10]
-            is_searching = True
+    if parent_page_id:
+        parent_page = get_object_or_404(Page, id=parent_page_id)
+    else:
+        parent_page = Page.get_first_root_node()
 
-    if not is_searching:
-        if parent_page_id:
-            parent_page = get_object_or_404(Page, id=parent_page_id)
-        else:
-            parent_page = Page.get_first_root_node()
-
-        parent_page.can_choose = issubclass(parent_page.specific_class, desired_class)
-        search_form = SearchForm()
-        pages = parent_page.get_children()
+    parent_page.can_choose = issubclass(parent_page.specific_class, desired_class)
+    search_form = SearchForm()
+    pages = parent_page.get_children()
 
     # restrict the page listing to just those pages that:
     # - are of the given content type (taking into account class inheritance)
@@ -61,16 +49,6 @@ def browse(request, parent_page_id=None):
         if page.can_choose or page.can_descend:
             shown_pages.append(page)
 
-    if is_searching:
-        return render(request, 'wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_results.html', {
-            'querystring': get_querystring(request),
-            'searchform': search_form,
-            'pages': shown_pages,
-            'page_type_string': page_type,
-            'page_type': desired_class,
-            'page_types_restricted': page_types_restricted
-        })
-
     return render_modal_workflow(request, 'wagtailadmin/chooser/browse.html', 'wagtailadmin/chooser/browse.js', {
         'allow_external_link': request.GET.get('allow_external_link'),
         'allow_email_link': request.GET.get('allow_email_link'),
@@ -80,7 +58,39 @@ def browse(request, parent_page_id=None):
         'search_form': search_form,
         'page_type_string': page_type,
         'page_type': desired_class,
-        'page_types_restricted': page_types_restricted
+        'page_types_restricted': (page_type != 'wagtailcore.page')
+    })
+
+
+def search(request, parent_page_id=None):
+    page_type = request.GET.get('page_type') or 'wagtailcore.page'
+    content_type_app_name, content_type_model_name = page_type.split('.')
+
+    try:
+        content_type = ContentType.objects.get_by_natural_key(content_type_app_name, content_type_model_name)
+    except ContentType.DoesNotExist:
+        raise Http404
+    desired_class = content_type.model_class()
+
+    search_form = SearchForm(request.GET)
+    if search_form.is_valid() and search_form.cleaned_data['q']:
+        pages = desired_class.objects.exclude(
+            depth=1  # never include root
+        ).filter(title__icontains=search_form.cleaned_data['q'])[:10]
+    else:
+        pages = desired_class.objects.none()
+
+    shown_pages = []
+    for page in pages:
+        page.can_choose = True
+        shown_pages.append(page)
+
+    return render(request, 'wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_results.html', {
+        'querystring': get_querystring(request),
+        'searchform': search_form,
+        'pages': shown_pages,
+        'page_type': desired_class,
+        'page_types_restricted': (page_type != 'wagtailcore.page')
     })