diff --git a/t/Search.t b/t/Search.t
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..286d36a733
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/Search.t
@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+#!/usr/bin/perl
+
+# This file is part of Koha.
+#
+# Koha is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+# under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Koha is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Koha; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses>.
+
+use Modern::Perl;
+
+use Test::More tests => 3;
+
+BEGIN {
+    use_ok('C4::Search');
+    can_ok('C4::Search',
+        qw/_build_initial_query/);
+}
+
+subtest "_build_initial_query tests" => sub {
+
+    plan tests => 20;
+
+    my ($query,$query_cgi,$query_desc,$previous_operand);
+    # all params have values
+    my $params = {
+        query            => "query",
+        query_cgi        => "query_cgi",
+        query_desc       => "query_desc",
+        operator         => "operator",
+        parsed_operand   => "parsed_operand",
+        original_operand => "original_operand",
+        index            => "index",
+        index_plus       => "index_plus",
+        indexes_set      => "indexes_set",
+        previous_operand => "previous_operand"
+    };
+
+    ($query,$query_cgi,$query_desc,$previous_operand) =
+        C4::Search::_build_initial_query($params);
+    is( $query, "query operator parsed_operand",
+        "\$query built correctly");
+    is( $query_cgi, "query_cgi&op=%20operator%20&idx=index&q=original_operand",
+        "\$query_cgi built correctly");
+    is( $query_desc, "query_desc operator index_plus original_operand",
+        "\$query_desc build correctly");
+    is( $previous_operand, "previous_operand",
+        "\$query build correctly");
+
+    # no operator
+    $params = {
+        query            => "query",
+        query_cgi        => "query_cgi",
+        query_desc       => "query_desc",
+        operator         => undef,
+        parsed_operand   => "parsed_operand",
+        original_operand => "original_operand",
+        index            => "index",
+        index_plus       => "index_plus",
+        indexes_set      => "indexes_set",
+        previous_operand => "previous_operand"
+    };
+
+    ($query,$query_cgi,$query_desc,$previous_operand) =
+        C4::Search::_build_initial_query($params);
+    is( $query, "query and parsed_operand",
+        "\$query built correctly (no operator)");
+    is( $query_cgi, "query_cgi&op=%20and%20&idx=index&q=original_operand",
+        "\$query_cgi built correctly (no operator)");
+    is( $query_desc, "query_desc and index_plus original_operand",
+        "\$query_desc build correctly (no operator)");
+    is( $previous_operand, "previous_operand",
+        "\$query build correctly (no operator)");
+
+    # no previous operand
+    $params = {
+        query            => "query",
+        query_cgi        => "query_cgi",
+        query_desc       => "query_desc",
+        operator         => "operator",
+        parsed_operand   => "parsed_operand",
+        original_operand => "original_operand",
+        index            => "index",
+        index_plus       => "index_plus",
+        indexes_set      => "indexes_set",
+        previous_operand => undef
+    };
+
+    ($query,$query_cgi,$query_desc,$previous_operand) =
+        C4::Search::_build_initial_query($params);
+    is( $query, "queryparsed_operand",
+        "\$query built correctly (no previous operand)");
+    is( $query_cgi, "query_cgi&idx=index&q=original_operand",
+        "\$query_cgi built correctly (no previous operand)");
+    is( $query_desc, "query_descindex_plus original_operand",
+        "\$query_desc build correctly (no previous operand)");
+    is( $previous_operand, 1,
+        "\$query build correctly (no previous operand)");
+
+    # no index passed
+    $params = {
+        query            => "query",
+        query_cgi        => "query_cgi",
+        query_desc       => "query_desc",
+        operator         => "operator",
+        parsed_operand   => "parsed_operand",
+        original_operand => "original_operand",
+        index            => undef,
+        index_plus       => "index_plus",
+        indexes_set      => "indexes_set",
+        previous_operand => "previous_operand"
+    };
+
+    ($query,$query_cgi,$query_desc,$previous_operand) =
+        C4::Search::_build_initial_query($params);
+    is( $query, "query operator parsed_operand",
+        "\$query built correctly (no index passed)");
+    is( $query_cgi, "query_cgi&op=%20operator%20&q=original_operand",
+        "\$query_cgi built correctly (no index passed)");
+    is( $query_desc, "query_desc operator index_plus original_operand",
+        "\$query_desc build correctly (no index passed)");
+    is( $previous_operand, "previous_operand",
+        "\$query build correctly (no index passed)");
+
+    # no index_plus passed
+    $params = {
+        query            => "query",
+        query_cgi        => "query_cgi",
+        query_desc       => "query_desc",
+        operator         => "operator",
+        parsed_operand   => "parsed_operand",
+        original_operand => "original_operand",
+        index            => "index",
+        index_plus       => undef,
+        indexes_set      => "indexes_set",
+        previous_operand => "previous_operand"
+    };
+
+    ($query,$query_cgi,$query_desc,$previous_operand) =
+        C4::Search::_build_initial_query($params);
+    is( $query, "query operator parsed_operand",
+        "\$query built correctly (no index_plus passed)");
+    is( $query_cgi, "query_cgi&op=%20operator%20&idx=index&q=original_operand",
+        "\$query_cgi built correctly (no index_plus passed)");
+    is( $query_desc, "query_desc operator  original_operand",
+        "\$query_desc build correctly (no index_plus passed)");
+    is( $previous_operand, "previous_operand",
+        "\$query build correctly (no index_plus passed)");
+
+};
+
+
+1;