diff --git a/org.eclipse.search.tests/src/org/eclipse/search/tests/filesearch/FileSearchTests.java b/org.eclipse.search.tests/src/org/eclipse/search/tests/filesearch/FileSearchTests.java
index 51e3c09..8439dc2 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.search.tests/src/org/eclipse/search/tests/filesearch/FileSearchTests.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.search.tests/src/org/eclipse/search/tests/filesearch/FileSearchTests.java
@@ -362,6 +362,45 @@
 	}
 
 	@Test
+	public void testWildcardQuotes() throws Exception {
+		assertWildcardReplace("H", "Hallo", "-allo");
+		assertWildcardReplace("a", "Hallo", "H-llo");
+		assertWildcardReplace("al", "Hallo", "H-lo");
+		assertWildcardReplace("a*", "Hallo", "H-");
+		assertWildcardReplace("a?", "Hallo", "H-lo");
+		assertWildcardReplace("?", "Hallo", "-----");
+		assertWildcardReplace("{", "Ha({o", "Ha(-o");
+		assertWildcardReplace("(", "Ha({o", "Ha-{o");
+		assertWildcardReplace("\\", "Ha\\\\o", "Ha--o");
+		assertWildcardReplace("\\\\", "Ha\\\\o", "Ha--o");
+		assertWildcardReplace("\\*", "Hall*", "Hall-");
+		assertWildcardReplace("\\?", "Ha??o?", "Ha--o-");
+		assertWildcardReplace("Du?und?ich", "Du und ich nicht", "- nicht");
+		assertWildcardReplace("Du*ich", "Du und ich nicht", "-t");
+		assertWildcardReplace("und*ich", "Du und ich nicht", "Du -t");
+		assertWildcardReplace("*ich", "Du und ich nicht", "-t");
+
+		assertWildcardReplace("*", "Hallo", "--");
+		// XXX i expect it to be "-" but ".*" indeed matches chars 0-5 and 5-5
+		// it would need ".+" to not match the empty string at the end
+	}
+
+	private void assertWildcardReplace(String pattern, String in, String expected) {
+		String regex= asRegEx(true, pattern);
+		try {
+			String replaced= in.replaceAll(regex, "-");
+			assertEquals(expected, replaced);
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+			throw new RuntimeException("Error with pattern:" + pattern + " regex=" + regex, e);
+		}
+	}
+
+	String asRegEx(boolean wildcards, String pattern) {
+		StringBuilder b= new StringBuilder();
+		org.eclipse.search.internal.core.text.PatternConstructor.appendAsRegEx(wildcards, pattern, b);
+		return b.toString();
+	}
+	@Test
 	public void testDerivedFilesParallel() throws Exception {
 		testDerivedFiles(new ParallelTestResultCollector());
 	}
diff --git a/org.eclipse.search/search/org/eclipse/search/internal/core/text/PatternConstructor.java b/org.eclipse.search/search/org/eclipse/search/internal/core/text/PatternConstructor.java
index b785782..287fb18 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.search/search/org/eclipse/search/internal/core/text/PatternConstructor.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.search/search/org/eclipse/search/internal/core/text/PatternConstructor.java
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
 			if (isWholeWord && len > 0 && isWordChar(pattern.charAt(len - 1))) {
 				buffer.append("\\b"); //$NON-NLS-1$
 			}
-			pattern= buffer.toString();
+			pattern= buffer.toString();			
 		}
 
 		int regexOptions= Pattern.MULTILINE;
@@ -183,6 +183,12 @@
 
 
 	public static StringBuilder appendAsRegEx(boolean isStringMatcher, String pattern, StringBuilder buffer) {
+		if (!isStringMatcher) {
+			buffer.append(Pattern.quote(pattern));
+			return buffer;
+		}
+		// isStringMatcher: '*' and '?' wildcards and '\' as escape
+		StringBuilder quoted = new StringBuilder();
 		boolean isEscaped= false;
 		for (int i = 0; i < pattern.length(); i++) {
 			char c = pattern.charAt(i);
@@ -190,59 +196,46 @@
 			// the backslash
 			case '\\':
 				// the backslash is escape char in string matcher
-				if (isStringMatcher && !isEscaped) {
+				if (!isEscaped) {
 					isEscaped= true;
 				}
 				else {
-					buffer.append("\\\\");  //$NON-NLS-1$
+					quoted.append(c);
 					isEscaped= false;
 				}
 				break;
-			// characters that need to be escaped in the regex.
-			case '(':
-			case ')':
-			case '{':
-			case '}':
-			case '.':
-			case '[':
-			case ']':
-			case '$':
-			case '^':
-			case '+':
-			case '|':
-				if (isEscaped) {
-					buffer.append("\\\\");  //$NON-NLS-1$
-					isEscaped= false;
-				}
-				buffer.append('\\');
-				buffer.append(c);
-				break;
 			case '?':
-				if (isStringMatcher && !isEscaped) {
+				if (!isEscaped) {
+					if (quoted.length() > 0) { // flush quote
+						buffer.append(Pattern.quote(quoted.toString()));
+						quoted = new StringBuilder();
+					}
 					buffer.append('.');
 				}
 				else {
-					buffer.append('\\');
-					buffer.append(c);
+					quoted.append(c);
 					isEscaped= false;
 				}
 				break;
 			case '*':
-				if (isStringMatcher && !isEscaped) {
+				if (!isEscaped) {
+					if (quoted.length() > 0) { // flush quote
+						buffer.append(Pattern.quote(quoted.toString()));
+						quoted = new StringBuilder();
+					}
 					buffer.append(".*"); //$NON-NLS-1$
 				}
 				else {
-					buffer.append('\\');
-					buffer.append(c);
+					quoted.append(c);
 					isEscaped= false;
 				}
 				break;
 			default:
 				if (isEscaped) {
-					buffer.append("\\\\");  //$NON-NLS-1$
+					quoted.append("\\"); //$NON-NLS-1$
 					isEscaped= false;
 				}
-				buffer.append(c);
+				quoted.append(c);
 				break;
 			}
 		}
@@ -250,6 +243,10 @@
 			buffer.append("\\\\");  //$NON-NLS-1$
 			isEscaped= false;
 		}
+		if (quoted.length() > 0) { // flush quote
+			buffer.append(Pattern.quote(quoted.toString()));
+			quoted = new StringBuilder();
+		}
 		return buffer;
 	}