diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/forms.py b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/forms.py
index 84f4426c4..ca70c654e 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/forms.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/forms.py
@@ -28,15 +28,11 @@ class URLOrAbsolutePathField(forms.URLField):
             value = super(URLOrAbsolutePathField, self).to_python(value)
         return value
 
+
 class SearchForm(forms.Form):
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        _placeholder = kwargs.pop('placeholder', None)
-        placeholder_suffix = kwargs.pop('placeholder_suffix', "")
+        placeholder = kwargs.pop('placeholder', _("Search"))
         super(SearchForm, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
-        if _placeholder is not None:
-            placeholder = _placeholder
-        else:
-            placeholder = 'Search {0}'.format(placeholder_suffix)
         self.fields['q'].widget.attrs = {'placeholder': placeholder}
 
     q = forms.CharField(label=_("Search term"), widget=forms.TextInput())
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_browse_results.html b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_browse_results.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2f8640abb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_browse_results.html
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+{% load i18n %}
+
+{% if page_types_restricted %}
+    {% include "wagtailadmin/chooser/_page_type_restricted_warning.html" with page_type_name=page_type.get_verbose_name %}
+{% endif %}
+
+<h2>{% trans "Explorer" %}</h2>
+{% include "wagtailadmin/shared/breadcrumb.html" with page=parent_page choosing=1 %}
+
+{% if pages %}
+    {% include "wagtailadmin/pages/list.html" with choosing=1 allow_navigation=1 orderable=0 pages=pages parent_page=parent_page %}
+{% endif %}
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_page_type_restricted_warning.html b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_page_type_restricted_warning.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..949db9551
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_page_type_restricted_warning.html
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{% load i18n %}
+
+<p class="help-block help-warning">
+    {% blocktrans with type=page_type_name %}
+        Only pages of type "{{ type }}" may be chosen for this field. Search results will exclude pages of other types.
+    {% endblocktrans %}
+</p>
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_form.html b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_form.html
deleted file mode 100644
index 1cd683f91..000000000
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_form.html
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-{% load i18n %}
-<form class="search-bar full-width nice-padding" action="{% url 'wagtailadmin_choose_page' %}?{{ querystring }}" method="get">
-    <ul class="fields">
-        {% for field in search_form %}
-            {% include "wagtailadmin/shared/field_as_li.html" with field=field %}
-        {% endfor %}
-        <li class="submit"><input type="submit" value="{% trans 'Search' %}" /></li>
-    </ul>
-</form>
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_results.html b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_results.html
index 62f911bf0..ad0ffdaba 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_results.html
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_results.html
@@ -1,30 +1,17 @@
 {% load i18n %}
 
 {% if page_types_restricted %}
-    <p class="help-block help-warning">
-        {% blocktrans with type=page_type.get_verbose_name %}
-            Only pages of type "{{ type }}" may be chosen for this field. Search results will exclude pages of other types.
-        {% endblocktrans %}
-    </p>
+    {% include "wagtailadmin/chooser/_page_type_restricted_warning.html" with page_type_name=page_type.get_verbose_name %}
 {% endif %}
 
-{% if not is_searching %}
-    <h2>{% trans "Explorer" %}</h2>
-    {% include "wagtailadmin/shared/breadcrumb.html" with page=parent_page choosing=1 %}
-{% else %}
-    <h2>
-        {% blocktrans count counter=pages|length %}
-            There is one match
-        {% plural %}
-            There are {{ counter }} matches
-        {% endblocktrans %}
-    </h2>
-{% endif %}
+<h2>
+    {% blocktrans count counter=pages|length %}
+        There is one match
+    {% plural %}
+        There are {{ counter }} matches
+    {% endblocktrans %}
+</h2>
 
 {% if pages %}
-    {% if is_searching %}
-        {% include "wagtailadmin/pages/list.html" with choosing=1 show_parent=1 pages=pages parent_page=parent_page %}
-    {% else %}
-        {% include "wagtailadmin/pages/list.html" with choosing=1 allow_navigation=1 orderable=0 pages=pages parent_page=parent_page %}
-    {% endif %}
-{% endif %}
\ No newline at end of file
+    {% include "wagtailadmin/pages/list.html" with choosing=1 show_parent=1 pages=pages parent_page=parent_page %}
+{% endif %}
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/browse.html b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/browse.html
index 98f758204..c5e1e1a78 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/browse.html
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/browse.html
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 {% load i18n %}
 {% if page_types_restricted %}
-	{% trans "Choose" as choose_str %}
-	{% trans page_type.get_verbose_name as subtitle %}
+    {% trans "Choose" as choose_str %}
+    {% trans page_type.get_verbose_name as subtitle %}
 {% else %}
-	{% trans "Choose a page" as choose_str %}
+    {% 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" %}
@@ -12,6 +12,6 @@
     {% include 'wagtailadmin/chooser/_link_types.html' with current='internal' %}
 
     <div class="page-results">
-        {% include 'wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_results.html' %}
+        {% include 'wagtailadmin/chooser/_browse_results.html' %}
     </div>
 </div>
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/search.html b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/search.html
deleted file mode 100644
index e51179170..000000000
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/search.html
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-{% load i18n %}
-{% trans "Choose a page" as choose_str %}
-{% include "wagtailadmin/shared/header.html" with title=choose_str %}
-
-<div class="nice-padding">
-    {% include 'wagtailadmin/chooser/_link_types.html' with current='internal' %}
-
-    {% include 'wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_form.html' %}
-
-    <div class="page-results">{# content in here will be replaced by live search results #}
-        {% include 'wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_results.html' %}
-    </div>
-</div>
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/search.js b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/search.js
deleted file mode 100644
index d8ba5d70b..000000000
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/search.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-function(modal) {
-    $('.link-types a', modal.body).click(function() {
-        modal.loadUrl(this.href);
-        return false;
-    });
-
-    {% include 'wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_behaviour.js' %}
-    ajaxifySearchResults();
-}
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/shared/header.html b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/shared/header.html
index 6d394d499..3e6aa98b5 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/shared/header.html
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/shared/header.html
@@ -1,4 +1,22 @@
 {% load i18n wagtailadmin_tags %}
+{% comment %}
+
+    Variables accepted by this template:
+
+    title
+    subtitle
+
+    search_url - if present, display a search box. This is a URL route name (taking no parameters) to be used as the action for that search box
+    query_parameters - a query string (without the '?') to be placed after the search URL
+
+    icon - name of an icon to place against the title
+
+    tabbed - if true, add the classname 'tab-merged'
+    merged - if true, add the classname 'merged'
+
+    add_link - if present, display an 'add' button. This is a URL route name (taking no parameters) to be used as the link URL for the button
+    add_text - text for the 'add' button
+{% endcomment %}
 <header class="nice-padding {% if merged %}merged{% endif %} {% if tabbed %}tab-merged{% endif %} {% if search_form %}hasform{% endif %}">
     <div class="row">
         <div class="left">
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/chooser.py b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/chooser.py
index ff8163a42..a177daddf 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/chooser.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/views/chooser.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def browse(request, parent_page_id=None):
 
     shown_pages = []
     for page in pages:
-        page.can_choose = issubclass(page.specific_class, desired_class)
+        page.can_choose = issubclass(page.specific_class or Page, desired_class)
         page.can_descend = page.get_children_count()
 
         if page.can_choose or page.can_descend:
@@ -66,7 +66,6 @@ def browse(request, parent_page_id=None):
             'querystring': get_querystring(request),
             'searchform': search_form,
             'pages': shown_pages,
-            'is_searching': is_searching,
             'page_type_string': page_type,
             'page_type': desired_class,
             'page_types_restricted': page_types_restricted
@@ -79,7 +78,6 @@ def browse(request, parent_page_id=None):
         'parent_page': parent_page,
         'pages': shown_pages,
         'search_form': search_form,
-        'is_searching': False,
         'page_type_string': page_type,
         'page_type': desired_class,
         'page_types_restricted': page_types_restricted