diff --git a/pagure/lib/__init__.py b/pagure/lib/__init__.py
index 7da3788..22d974b 100644
--- a/pagure/lib/__init__.py
+++ b/pagure/lib/__init__.py
@@ -2916,8 +2916,12 @@ def search_pull_requests(
         )
 
     if search_pattern is not None:
+        if '*' in search_pattern:
+            search_pattern = search_pattern.replace('*', '%')
+        else:
+            search_pattern = '%%%s%%' % search_pattern
         query = query.filter(
-            model.PullRequest.title.ilike('%%%s%%' % search_pattern)
+            model.PullRequest.title.ilike(search_pattern)
         )
 
     # Depending on the order, the query is sorted(default is desc)
diff --git a/tests/test_pagure_flask_ui_fork.py b/tests/test_pagure_flask_ui_fork.py
index 310d6fa..3447244 100644
--- a/tests/test_pagure_flask_ui_fork.py
+++ b/tests/test_pagure_flask_ui_fork.py
@@ -997,6 +997,12 @@ class PagureFlaskForktests(tests.Modeltests):
         self.assertIn('href="/test/pull-request/1"', tr_elements[2])
         self.assertEqual(len(tr_elements), 3)
 
+        output = self.app.get('/test/pull-requests?search_pattern=*PR')
+        output_text = output.get_data(as_text=True)
+        tr_elements = re.findall('<div class="request-row list-group-item list-group-item-action">(.*?)</div><!--end request-row-->', output_text, re.M | re.S)
+        self.assertEqual(len(tr_elements), 1)
+        self.assertIn('href="/test/pull-request/2"', tr_elements[0])
+
     @patch('pagure.lib.notify.send_email')
     def test_request_pulls(self, send_email):
         """ Test the request_pulls endpoint. """