diff --git a/addons/web/static/src/js/view_form.js b/addons/web/static/src/js/view_form.js
index 123af3a6050..948c34a20b5 100644
--- a/addons/web/static/src/js/view_form.js
+++ b/addons/web/static/src/js/view_form.js
@@ -2056,11 +2056,20 @@ openerp.web.form.FieldMany2One = openerp.web.form.Field.extend({
             if (values.length > self.limit) {
                 values = values.slice(0, self.limit);
                 values.push({label: _t("<em>   Search More...</em>"), action: function() {
-                    dataset.name_search(search_val, self.build_domain(), 'ilike'
-                    , false, function(data) {
+                    if (search_val.length == 0) {
+                        // search optimisation - in case user didn't enter any text we
+                        // do not need to prefilter records; for big datasets (ex: more
+                        // that 10.000 records) calling name_search() could be very very
+                        // expensive!
                         self._change_int_value(null);
-                        self._search_create_popup("search", data);
-                    });
+                        self._search_create_popup("search", undefined);
+                    } else {
+                        dataset.name_search(search_val, self.build_domain(), 'ilike'
+                        , false, function(data) {
+                            self._change_int_value(null);
+                            self._search_create_popup("search", data);
+                        });
+                    }
                 }});
             }
             // quick create