diff --git a/app/controllers/admin/users_controller.rb b/app/controllers/admin/users_controller.rb
index e83ecc11..c86b173e 100644
--- a/app/controllers/admin/users_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/admin/users_controller.rb
@@ -2,13 +2,10 @@ class Admin::UsersController < Admin::BaseController
   inherit_resources
 
   def index
-    @users = User.order('nick ASC')
+    @users = User.natural_order
 
     # if somebody uses the search field:
-    unless params[:user_name].blank?
-      @users = @users.where("first_name LIKE :user_name OR last_name LIKE :user_name OR nick LIKE :user_name",
-                            user_name: "%#{params[:user_name]}%")
-    end
+    @users = @users.natural_search(params[:user_name]) unless params[:user_name].blank?
 
     @users = @users.page(params[:page]).per(@per_page)
   end
diff --git a/app/controllers/foodcoop/users_controller.rb b/app/controllers/foodcoop/users_controller.rb
index f73147bc..31539dce 100644
--- a/app/controllers/foodcoop/users_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/foodcoop/users_controller.rb
@@ -1,19 +1,16 @@
 class Foodcoop::UsersController < ApplicationController
 
   def index
-    @users = User.order('nick ASC')
+    @users = User.natural_order
 
     # if somebody uses the search field:
-    unless params[:user_name].blank?
-      @users = @users.where("first_name LIKE :user_name OR last_name LIKE :user_name OR nick LIKE :user_name",
-                            user_name: "%#{params[:user_name]}%")
-    end
+    @users = @users.natural_search(params[:user_name]) unless params[:user_name].blank?
 
     if params[:ordergroup_name]
       @users = @users.joins(:groups).where("groups.type = 'Ordergroup' AND groups.name LIKE ?", "%#{params[:ordergroup_name]}%")
     end
 
-    @users = @users.page(params[:page]).per(@per_page).order('users.nick ASC')
+    @users = @users.page(params[:page]).per(@per_page)
 
     respond_to do |format|
       format.html # index.html.haml
diff --git a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
index 916b33f7..b6a7bb98 100644
--- a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ class UsersController < ApplicationController
 
   # Currently used to display users nick and ids for autocomplete
   def index
-    @users = User.where("nick LIKE ?", "%#{params[:q]}%")
+    @users = User.natural_search(params[:q])
     respond_to do |format|
       format.json { render :json => @users.map { |u| u.token_attributes } }
     end
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index cf5829d5..29c070c0 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -56,6 +56,22 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
       self.settings.merge!(key, value)
     end
   end
+
+  # sorted by display name
+  def self.natural_order
+    # would be sensible to match ApplicationController#show_user
+    if FoodsoftConfig[:use_nick]
+      order('nick ASC')
+    else
+      order('first_name ASC, last_name ASC')
+    end
+  end
+
+  # search by (nick)name
+  def self.natural_search(q)
+    # we always use both nick and name, to make sure a user is found
+    where("CONCAT(first_name, CONCAT(' ', last_name)) LIKE :q OR nick LIKE :q", q: "%#{q}%")
+  end
   
   def locale
     settings.profile['language']