diff --git a/openerp/addons/base/res/res_partner.py b/openerp/addons/base/res/res_partner.py
index f4a36b46b77..9c98521e86c 100644
--- a/openerp/addons/base/res/res_partner.py
+++ b/openerp/addons/base/res/res_partner.py
@@ -346,21 +346,35 @@ class res_partner_address(osv.osv):
 
     def name_search(self, cr, user, name, args=None, operator='ilike', context=None, limit=100):
         if not args:
-            args=[]
-        if not context:
-            context={}
-        if context.get('contact_display', 'contact')=='partner ' or context.get('contact_display', 'contact')=='partner_address '  :
-            ids = self.search(cr, user, [('partner_id',operator,name)], limit=limit, context=context)
+            args = []
+        if context is None:
+            context = {}
+
+        if not name:
+            ids = self.search(cr, user, args, limit=limit, context=context)
+        elif context.get('contact_display', 'contact') == 'partner':
+            ids = self.search(cr, user, [('partner_id', operator, name)] + args, limit=limit, context=context)
         else:
-            if not name:
-                ids = self.search(cr, user, args, limit=limit, context=context)
+            # first lookup zip code, as it is a common and efficient way to search on these data
+            ids = self.search(cr, user, [('zip', '=', name)] + args, limit=limit, context=context)
+            # then search on other fields:
+            if context.get('contact_display', 'contact') == 'partner_address':
+                fields = ['partner_id', 'name', 'country_id', 'city', 'street']
             else:
-                ids = self.search(cr, user, [('zip','=',name)] + args, limit=limit, context=context)
-            if not ids:
-                ids = self.search(cr, user, [('city',operator,name)] + args, limit=limit, context=context)
-            if name:
-                ids += self.search(cr, user, [('name',operator,name)] + args, limit=limit, context=context)
-                ids += self.search(cr, user, [('partner_id',operator,name)] + args, limit=limit, context=context)
+                fields = ['name', 'country_id', 'city', 'street']
+            # Here we have to search the records that satisfy the domain:
+            #       OR([[(f, operator, name)] for f in fields])) + args
+            # Searching on such a domain can be dramatically inefficient, due to the expansion made
+            # for field translations, and the handling of the disjunction by the DB engine itself.
+            # So instead, we search field by field until the search limit is reached.
+            while len(ids) < limit and fields:
+                f = fields.pop(0)
+                new_ids = self.search(cr, user, [(f, operator, name)] + args, limit=limit, context=context)
+                # extend ids with the ones in new_ids that are not in ids yet (and keep order)
+                old_ids = set(ids)
+                ids.extend([id for id in new_ids if id not in old_ids])
+
+        ids = ids[:limit]
         return self.name_get(cr, user, ids, context=context)
 
     def get_city(self, cr, uid, id):