diff --git a/lib/i18n/backend/discourse_i18n.rb b/lib/i18n/backend/discourse_i18n.rb
index c4bccbf122e..8b2ea237598 100644
--- a/lib/i18n/backend/discourse_i18n.rb
+++ b/lib/i18n/backend/discourse_i18n.rb
@@ -43,7 +43,13 @@ module I18n
       end
 
       def search(locale, query)
-        find_results(/#{query}/i, {}, translations[locale])
+        results = {}
+
+        fallbacks(locale).each do |fallback|
+          find_results(/#{query}/i, results, translations[fallback])
+        end
+
+        results
       end
 
       protected
@@ -54,7 +60,9 @@ module I18n
             k = k_sym.to_s
             key_path = path ? "#{path}.#{k}" : k
             if v.is_a?(String)
-              results[key_path] = v if key_path =~ regexp || v =~ regexp
+              unless results.has_key?(key_path)
+                results[key_path] = v if key_path =~ regexp || v =~ regexp
+              end
             elsif v.is_a?(Hash)
               find_results(regexp, results, v, key_path)
             end
diff --git a/spec/components/discourse_i18n_spec.rb b/spec/components/discourse_i18n_spec.rb
index 40dbf4a2ef4..33722e92b8f 100644
--- a/spec/components/discourse_i18n_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/discourse_i18n_spec.rb
@@ -40,6 +40,11 @@ describe I18n::Backend::DiscourseI18n do
     expect(results['items.other']).to eq('%{count} items')
   end
 
+  it 'uses fallback locales for searching' do
+    expect(backend.search(:de, 'bar')).to eq({'bar' => 'Bar in :de'})
+    expect(backend.search(:de, 'foo')).to eq({'foo' => 'Foo in :en'})
+  end
+
   describe '#exists?' do
     it 'returns true when a key is given that exists' do
       expect(backend.exists?(:de, :bar)).to eq(true)