diff --git a/src/mu-str.c b/src/mu-str.c
index 0b550fc2..81484c94 100644
--- a/src/mu-str.c
+++ b/src/mu-str.c
@@ -406,6 +406,13 @@ check_for_field (const char *str, gboolean *is_field, gboolean *is_range_field)
 	CheckPrefix pfx;
 
 	pfx.str   = str;
+
+	/* skip any non-alphanum starts in cpfx->str; this is to
+	 * handle the case where we have e.g. "(maildir:/abc)"
+	 */
+	while (pfx.str && !isalnum(*pfx.str))
+		++pfx.str;
+
 	pfx.match =  pfx.range_field = FALSE;
 
 	mu_msg_field_foreach ((MuMsgFieldForeachFunc)each_check_prefix,
@@ -454,6 +461,8 @@ mu_str_xapian_escape_in_place (char *term, gboolean esc_space)
 				*cur = escchar;
 			++colon;
 			break;
+		case '(':
+		case ')':
 		case '\'':
 		case '*':   /* wildcard */
 			break;
diff --git a/src/tests/test-mu-query.c b/src/tests/test-mu-query.c
index 4eb65bfc..dab1a147 100644
--- a/src/tests/test-mu-query.c
+++ b/src/tests/test-mu-query.c
@@ -223,7 +223,6 @@ test_mu_query_03 (void)
 		g_assert_cmpuint (run_and_count_matches (xpath, queries[i].query),
 				  ==, queries[i].count);
 	g_free (xpath);
-
 }
 
 
@@ -234,10 +233,10 @@ test_mu_query_04 (void)
 	int i;
 
 	QResults queries[] = {
-		{ "frodo@example.com", 1}, /* does not match: see mu-find (1) */
+		{ "frodo@example.com", 1},
 		{ "f:frodo@example.com", 1},
 		{ "f:Frodo Baggins", 1},
-		{ "bilbo@anotherexample.com", 1}, /* same things */
+		{ "bilbo@anotherexample.com", 1},
 		{ "t:bilbo@anotherexample.com", 1},
 		{ "t:bilbo", 1},
 		{ "f:bilbo", 0},
@@ -256,10 +255,38 @@ test_mu_query_04 (void)
 		g_assert_cmpuint (run_and_count_matches (xpath, queries[i].query),
 				  ==, queries[i].count);
 	g_free (xpath);
-
 }
 
 
+static void
+test_mu_query_logic (void)
+{
+	gchar *xpath;
+	int i;
+
+	QResults queries[] = {
+		{ "subject:gcc" , 1},
+		{ "subject:lisp" , 1},
+		{ "subject:gcc OR subject:lisp" , 2},
+		{ "subject:gcc or subject:lisp" , 2},
+		{ "subject:gcc AND subject:lisp" , 0},
+
+		{ "subject:gcc OR (subject:scheme AND subject:elisp)" , 2},
+		{ "(subject:gcc OR subject:scheme) AND subject:elisp" , 1}
+	};
+
+	xpath = fill_database (MU_TESTMAILDIR);
+	g_assert (xpath != NULL);
+
+ 	for (i = 0; i != G_N_ELEMENTS(queries); ++i)
+		g_assert_cmpuint (run_and_count_matches (xpath, queries[i].query),
+				  ==, queries[i].count);
+	g_free (xpath);
+}
+
+
+
+
 static void
 test_mu_query_accented_chars_01 (void)
 {
@@ -599,6 +626,9 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	g_test_add_func ("/mu-query/test-mu-query-02", test_mu_query_02);
 	g_test_add_func ("/mu-query/test-mu-query-03", test_mu_query_03);
 	g_test_add_func ("/mu-query/test-mu-query-04", test_mu_query_04);
+
+	g_test_add_func ("/mu-query/test-mu-query-logic", test_mu_query_logic);
+
 	g_test_add_func ("/mu-query/test-mu-query-accented-chars-1",
 			 test_mu_query_accented_chars_01);
 	g_test_add_func ("/mu-query/test-mu-query-accented-chars-2",
diff --git a/src/tests/test-mu-str.c b/src/tests/test-mu-str.c
index 5409641c..fadb8882 100644
--- a/src/tests/test-mu-str.c
+++ b/src/tests/test-mu-str.c
@@ -199,7 +199,8 @@ test_mu_str_xapian_escape (void)
 		{ "size:10..20", "size:10..20"},
 		{ "x:2010..2012", "x:2010__2012"},
 		{ "q:2010..2012", "q_2010__2012"},
-		{ "subject:2010..2012", "subject:2010__2012"}
+		{ "subject:2010..2012", "subject:2010__2012"},
+		{ "(maildir:foo)", "(maildir:foo)"}
 	};
 
 	for (i = 0; i != G_N_ELEMENTS(words); ++i) {