diff --git a/src/opnsense/scripts/suricata/getRuleJSON.py b/src/opnsense/scripts/suricata/getRuleJSON.py
index b6e2e1d1a..5827e6e58 100755
--- a/src/opnsense/scripts/suricata/getRuleJSON.py
+++ b/src/opnsense/scripts/suricata/getRuleJSON.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
         rc.create()
 
     # load parameters, ignore validation here the search method only processes valid input
-    parameters = {'limit':'0','offset':'0','sort_by':'', 'filter':'', 'filter_fields':''}
+    parameters = {'limit':'0','offset':'0','sort_by':'', 'filter':''}
     cmd=None
     for arg in sys.argv[1:]:
         if cmd is None:
@@ -60,3 +60,5 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     result=rc.search(**parameters)
     result['parameters'] = parameters
     print (json.dumps(result))
+
+
diff --git a/src/opnsense/scripts/suricata/rulecache.py b/src/opnsense/scripts/suricata/rulecache.py
index 4825c67e4..5b2462fa7 100644
--- a/src/opnsense/scripts/suricata/rulecache.py
+++ b/src/opnsense/scripts/suricata/rulecache.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import os
 import os.path
 import glob
 import sqlite3
+import shlex
 
 class RuleCache(object):
     """
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ class RuleCache(object):
         self.rule_source_dir = '/usr/local/etc/suricata/rules/'
         self.cachefile = '%srules.sqlite'%self.rule_source_dir
         self._rule_fields = ['sid','msg','classtype','rev','gid','source','enabled']
+        self._rule_defaults = {'classtype':'##none##'}
 
     def listLocal(self):
         all_rule_files=[]
@@ -113,7 +115,10 @@ class RuleCache(object):
 
                     for rule_field in self._rule_fields:
                         if rule_field not in record:
-                            record[rule_field] = None
+                            if rule_field in self._rule_defaults:
+                                record[rule_field] = self._rule_defaults[rule_field]
+                            else:
+                                record[rule_field] = None
 
                     rules.append(record)
 
@@ -123,12 +128,11 @@ class RuleCache(object):
         cur.execute('insert into stats (timestamp,files) values (?,?) ',(last_mtime,len(all_rule_files)))
         db.commit()
 
-    def search(self, limit, offset, filter, filter_fields, sort_by):
+    def search(self, limit, offset, filter, sort_by):
         """ search installed rules
         :param limit: limit number of rows
         :param offset: limit offset
-        :param filter: text to search
-        :param filter_fields: list of fields to apply filter
+        :param filter: text to search, used format fieldname1,fieldname2/searchphrase include % to match on a part
         :param sort: order by, list of fields and possible asc/desc parameter
         :return: dict
         """
@@ -139,14 +143,27 @@ class RuleCache(object):
         # construct query including filters
         sql = 'select * from rules '
         sql_filters = {}
-        for field in map(lambda x:x.lower().strip(),filter_fields.split(',')):
-            if field in self._rule_fields:
-                if len(sql_filters) > 0:
-                    sql +=  ' or '
+
+        for filtertag in shlex.split(filter):
+            fieldnames = filtertag.split('/')[0]
+            searchcontent = '/'.join(filtertag.split('/')[1:])
+            if len(sql_filters) > 0:
+                sql += ' and ( '
+            else:
+                sql += ' where ( '
+            for fieldname in map(lambda x: x.lower().strip(), fieldnames.split(',')):
+                if fieldname in self._rule_fields:
+                    if fieldname != fieldnames.split(',')[0].strip():
+                        sql += ' or '
+                    if searchcontent.find('%') == -1:
+                        sql += 'cast('+fieldname + " as text) like :"+fieldname+" "
+                    else:
+                        sql += 'cast('+fieldname + " as text) like '%'|| :"+fieldname+" || '%' "
+                    sql_filters[fieldname] = searchcontent.replace('%', '')
                 else:
-                    sql += ' where '
-                sql += 'cast('+field + " as text) like '%'|| :"+field+" || '%' "
-                sql_filters[field] = filter
+                    # not a valid fieldname, add a tag to make sure our sql statement is valid
+                    sql += ' 1 = 1 '
+            sql += ' ) '
 
         # apply sort order (if any)
         sql_sort =[]