diff --git a/app/lib/search_query_parser.rb b/app/lib/search_query_parser.rb
index b029e59d199193..3b1b6c08083689 100644
--- a/app/lib/search_query_parser.rb
+++ b/app/lib/search_query_parser.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ class SearchQueryParser < Parslet::Parser
   rule(:space)     { match('\s').repeat(1) }
   rule(:operator)  { (str('+') | str('-')).as(:operator) }
   rule(:prefix)    { term >> colon }
-  rule(:shortcode) { (colon >> term >> colon.maybe).as(:shortcode) }
+  rule(:shortcode) { (operator.maybe >> colon >> term >> colon.maybe).as(:shortcode) }
   rule(:phrase)    { (quote >> (match('[^\s"]').repeat(1).as(:term) >> space.maybe).repeat >> quote).as(:phrase) }
   rule(:clause)    { (operator.maybe >> prefix.maybe.as(:prefix) >> (phrase | term | shortcode)).as(:clause) | prefix.as(:clause) | quote.as(:junk) }
   rule(:query)     { (clause >> space.maybe).repeat.as(:query) }
diff --git a/app/lib/search_query_transformer.rb b/app/lib/search_query_transformer.rb
index a45ae3d09bc1a7..1d4add5d349714 100644
--- a/app/lib/search_query_transformer.rb
+++ b/app/lib/search_query_transformer.rb
@@ -222,10 +222,29 @@ def language_code_from_term(term)
     end
   end
 
+  class ShortCodeClause
+    attr_reader :operator, :prefix, :shortcode
+
+    def initialize(operator, shortcode)
+      @operator = Operator.symbol(operator)
+      @shortcode = shortcode
+    end
+
+    def to_query
+      { multi_match: { type: 'most_fields', query: @shortcode, fields: ['text', 'text.stemmed'], operator: 'and' } }
+    end
+  end
+
   rule(clause: subtree(:clause)) do
     prefix   = clause[:prefix][:term].to_s if clause[:prefix]
     operator = clause[:operator]&.to_s
-    term     = clause[:phrase] ? clause[:phrase].map { |term| term[:term].to_s }.join(' ') : clause[:term].to_s
+    if clause[:phrase]
+      term = clause[:phrase].map { |term| term[:term].to_s }.join(' ')
+    elsif clause[:shortcode]
+      term = clause[:shortcode][:term].to_s
+    else
+      term = clause[:term].to_s
+    end
 
     if clause[:prefix] && SUPPORTED_PREFIXES.include?(prefix)
       PrefixClause.new(prefix, operator, term, current_account: current_account)
@@ -235,6 +254,8 @@ def language_code_from_term(term)
       TermClause.new(operator, term)
     elsif clause[:phrase]
       PhraseClause.new(operator, term)
+    elsif clause[:shortcode]
+      ShortCodeClause.new(operator, term)
     else
       raise "Unexpected clause type: #{clause}"
     end
diff --git a/spec/lib/search_query_parser_spec.rb b/spec/lib/search_query_parser_spec.rb
index 8bac10b322ca87..2c2e51e8074268 100644
--- a/spec/lib/search_query_parser_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/search_query_parser_spec.rb
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@
     it 'consumes ":foo:"' do
       expect(parser.shortcode).to parse(':foo:')
     end
+
+    it 'consumes "+:foo:"' do
+      expect(parser.shortcode).to parse('+:foo:')
+    end
   end
 
   context 'with phrase' do
diff --git a/spec/lib/search_query_transformer_spec.rb b/spec/lib/search_query_transformer_spec.rb
index 5817e3d1d2015c..35fb22b5e64bd8 100644
--- a/spec/lib/search_query_transformer_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/search_query_transformer_spec.rb
@@ -58,6 +58,26 @@
     end
   end
 
+  context 'with ":foo:"' do
+    let(:query) { ':foo:' }
+
+    it 'transforms clauses' do
+      expect(subject.send(:must_clauses).map(&:shortcode)).to contain_exactly('foo')
+      expect(subject.send(:must_not_clauses)).to be_empty
+      expect(subject.send(:filter_clauses)).to be_empty
+    end
+  end
+
+  context 'with "-:foo:"' do
+    let(:query) { '-:foo:' }
+
+    it 'transforms clauses' do
+      expect(subject.send(:must_clauses)).to be_empty
+      expect(subject.send(:must_not_clauses).map(&:shortcode)).to contain_exactly('foo')
+      expect(subject.send(:filter_clauses)).to be_empty
+    end
+  end
+
   context 'with \'"hello world"\'' do
     let(:query) { '"hello world"' }