diff --git a/addons/product/models/product_template.py b/addons/product/models/product_template.py
index d9ea1b37bc5..813f285456b 100644
--- a/addons/product/models/product_template.py
+++ b/addons/product/models/product_template.py
@@ -406,9 +406,23 @@ class ProductTemplate(models.Model):
             if (not products) or (limit and (len(templates) > limit)):
                 break
 
+        searched_ids = set(templates.ids)
+        # some product.templates do not have product.products yet (dynamic variants configuration),
+        # we need to add the base _name_search to the results
+        # FIXME awa: this is really not performant at all but after discussing with the team
+        # we don't see another way to do it
+        if len(searched_ids) < limit:
+            searched_ids |= set([template_id[0] for template_id in
+                super(ProductTemplate, self)._name_search(
+                    name,
+                    args=args,
+                    operator=operator,
+                    limit=limit,
+                    name_get_uid=name_get_uid)])
+
         # re-apply product.template order + name_get
         return super(ProductTemplate, self)._name_search(
-            '', args=[('id', 'in', list(set(templates.ids)))],
+            '', args=[('id', 'in', list(searched_ids))],
             operator='ilike', limit=limit, name_get_uid=name_get_uid)
 
     @api.multi