diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/search/SearcherComponentTest.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/search/SearcherComponentTest.java
index 87fc2404c6..ef59332f31 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/search/SearcherComponentTest.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/search/SearcherComponentTest.java
@@ -121,7 +121,6 @@ public class SearcherComponentTest extends TestCase
 
     public void testNodeXPath() throws Exception
     {
-
         Map<QName, ChildAssociationRef> assocRefs = BaseNodeServiceTest.buildNodeGraph(nodeService, rootNodeRef);
 
         Map<QName, Serializable> properties = new HashMap<QName, Serializable>();
@@ -274,6 +273,12 @@ public class SearcherComponentTest extends TestCase
         xpath.addNamespace(BaseNodeServiceTest.TEST_PREFIX, BaseNodeServiceTest.NAMESPACE);
         list = xpath.selectNodes(assocRefs.get(qname));
         assertEquals(1, list.size());
+        
+        xpathStr = "test:root_p_n1 | test:root_p_n2";
+        xpath = new NodeServiceXPath(xpathStr, documentNavigator, null);
+        xpath.addNamespace(BaseNodeServiceTest.TEST_PREFIX, BaseNodeServiceTest.NAMESPACE);
+        list = xpath.selectNodes(new ChildAssociationRef(null, null, null, rootNodeRef));
+        assertEquals(2, list.size());
     }
 
     public void testSelectAPI() throws Exception
@@ -296,6 +301,51 @@ public class SearcherComponentTest extends TestCase
         List<Serializable> attributes = searcher.selectProperties(rootNodeRef, "//@test:animal", null,
                 namespacePrefixResolver, false);
         assertEquals(1, attributes.size());
+        
+        NodeRef n1 = assocRefs.get(QName.createQName(BaseNodeServiceTest.NAMESPACE, "root_p_n1")).getChildRef();
+        NodeRef n2 = assocRefs.get(QName.createQName(BaseNodeServiceTest.NAMESPACE, "root_p_n2")).getChildRef();
+        
+        answer = searcher.selectNodes(rootNodeRef, "test:root_p_n1 | test:root_p_n2", null, namespacePrefixResolver, false);
+        assertEquals(2, answer.size());
+        assertTrue(answer.contains(n1));
+        assertTrue(answer.contains(n2));
+        
+        NodeRef n3 = assocRefs.get(QName.createQName(BaseNodeServiceTest.NAMESPACE, "n1_p_n3")).getChildRef();
+        
+        answer = searcher.selectNodes(rootNodeRef, "//@test:animal", null, namespacePrefixResolver, false);
+        assertEquals(1, answer.size());
+        assertTrue(answer.contains(n3));
+        
+        answer = searcher.selectNodes(rootNodeRef, "*//.[@test:animal]", null, namespacePrefixResolver, false);
+        assertEquals(1, answer.size());
+        assertTrue(answer.contains(n3));
+        
+        answer = searcher.selectNodes(rootNodeRef, "*//.[@test:animal='monkey']", null, namespacePrefixResolver, false);
+        assertEquals(1, answer.size());
+        assertTrue(answer.contains(n3));
+        
+        answer = searcher.selectNodes(rootNodeRef, "//.[@test:animal='monkey']", null, namespacePrefixResolver, false);
+        assertEquals(1, answer.size());
+        assertTrue(answer.contains(n3));
+        
+        answer = searcher.selectNodes(rootNodeRef, "*//.[@test:animal='monkey']", null, namespacePrefixResolver, false);
+        assertEquals(1, answer.size());
+        assertTrue(answer.contains(n3));
+        
+        answer = searcher.selectNodes(rootNodeRef, "//*[like(@test:animal, 'monk*')]", null, namespacePrefixResolver, false);
+        assertEquals(1, answer.size());
+        assertTrue(answer.contains(n3));
+        
+        answer = searcher.selectNodes(rootNodeRef, "//@*", null, namespacePrefixResolver, false);
+        assertEquals(9, answer.size());
+        
+        QName qname = QName.createQName(BaseNodeServiceTest.NAMESPACE, "my@test_with_at_sign");
+        ChildAssociationRef assoc = nodeService.createNode(n1, BaseNodeServiceTest.ASSOC_TYPE_QNAME_TEST_CHILDREN, qname, ContentModel.TYPE_CONTAINER);
+        NodeRef n4 = assoc.getChildRef();
+        
+        answer = searcher.selectNodes(rootNodeRef, "/test:root_p_n1/test:my@test_with_at_sign", null, namespacePrefixResolver, false);
+        assertEquals(1, answer.size());
+        assertTrue(answer.contains(n4));
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/search/impl/NodeSearcher.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/search/impl/NodeSearcher.java
index 6b303010e5..5fb123ec28 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/search/impl/NodeSearcher.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/repo/search/impl/NodeSearcher.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (C) 2005-2007 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2009 Alfresco Software Limited.
  *
  * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
  * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
@@ -123,11 +123,15 @@ public class NodeSearcher
                             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Malformed order by expression " + split[1]);
                         }
                     }
-
                 }
-
             }
-
+            else
+            {
+                // match '@' in a folder/filename (but do not match XPath query syntax '[@' or '/@' or '(@' or '@*')
+                // TODO cannot yet match '(@' or '[@' in a folder/filename - would need to identify and encode path elements
+                xpath = xpath.replaceAll("(?<![/\\[(])@(?!//*)", "_x0040_");
+            }
+            
             DocumentNavigator documentNavigator = new DocumentNavigator(dictionaryService, nodeService, searchService,
                     namespacePrefixResolver, followAllParentLinks, useJCRXPath);
             NodeServiceXPath nsXPath = new NodeServiceXPath(xpath, documentNavigator, paramDefs);