diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Core.Test/IndexerTests/NewznabTests/NewznabCapabilitiesProviderFixture.cs b/src/NzbDrone.Core.Test/IndexerTests/NewznabTests/NewznabCapabilitiesProviderFixture.cs
index ff9731ac4..847a22a81 100644
--- a/src/NzbDrone.Core.Test/IndexerTests/NewznabTests/NewznabCapabilitiesProviderFixture.cs
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Core.Test/IndexerTests/NewznabTests/NewznabCapabilitiesProviderFixture.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-using System;
+using System;
 using System.Xml;
 using FluentAssertions;
 using Moq;
@@ -95,5 +95,28 @@ public void should_not_throw_on_xml_data_unexpected()
 
             result.Should().NotBeNull();
         }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void should_use_default_searchengine_if_missing()
+        {
+            GivenCapsResponse(_caps);
+
+            var caps = Subject.GetCapabilities(_settings);
+
+            caps.TextSearchEngine.Should().Be("sphinx");
+            caps.MovieTextSearchEngine.Should().Be("sphinx");
+        }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void should_use_specified_searchengine()
+        {
+            GivenCapsResponse(_caps.Replace("<search ", "<search searchEngine=\"raw\" ")
+                                   .Replace("<movie-search ", "<movie-search searchEngine=\"raw2\" "));
+
+            var caps = Subject.GetCapabilities(_settings);
+
+            caps.TextSearchEngine.Should().Be("raw");
+            caps.MovieTextSearchEngine.Should().Be("raw2");
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Newznab/NewznabCapabilities.cs b/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Newznab/NewznabCapabilities.cs
index 7961b0b2e..956b1cdaf 100644
--- a/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Newznab/NewznabCapabilities.cs
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Newznab/NewznabCapabilities.cs
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ public class NewznabCapabilities
         public string[] SupportedSearchParameters { get; set; }
         public string[] SupportedMovieSearchParameters { get; set; }
         public bool SupportsAggregateIdSearch { get; set; }
+        public string TextSearchEngine { get; set; }
+        public string MovieTextSearchEngine { get; set; }
         public List<NewznabCategory> Categories { get; set; }
 
         public NewznabCapabilities()
@@ -18,6 +20,8 @@ public NewznabCapabilities()
             SupportedSearchParameters = new[] { "q" };
             SupportedMovieSearchParameters = new[] { "q", "imdbid", "imdbtitle", "imdbyear" };
             SupportsAggregateIdSearch = false;
+            TextSearchEngine = "sphinx"; // This should remain 'sphinx' for older newznab installs
+            MovieTextSearchEngine = "sphinx"; // This should remain 'sphinx' for older newznab installs
             Categories = new List<NewznabCategory>();
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Newznab/NewznabCapabilitiesProvider.cs b/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Newznab/NewznabCapabilitiesProvider.cs
index 51074704a..2da51815c 100644
--- a/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Newznab/NewznabCapabilitiesProvider.cs
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Newznab/NewznabCapabilitiesProvider.cs
@@ -118,9 +118,14 @@ private NewznabCapabilities ParseCapabilities(HttpResponse response)
                 {
                     capabilities.SupportedSearchParameters = null;
                 }
-                else if (xmlBasicSearch.Attribute("supportedParams") != null)
+                else
                 {
-                    capabilities.SupportedSearchParameters = xmlBasicSearch.Attribute("supportedParams").Value.Split(',');
+                    if (xmlBasicSearch.Attribute("supportedParams") != null)
+                    {
+                        capabilities.SupportedSearchParameters = xmlBasicSearch.Attribute("supportedParams").Value.Split(',');
+                    }
+
+                    capabilities.TextSearchEngine = xmlBasicSearch.Attribute("searchEngine")?.Value ?? capabilities.TextSearchEngine;
                 }
 
                 var xmlMovieSearch = xmlSearching.Element("movie-search");
@@ -128,10 +133,15 @@ private NewznabCapabilities ParseCapabilities(HttpResponse response)
                 {
                     capabilities.SupportedMovieSearchParameters = null;
                 }
-                else if (xmlMovieSearch.Attribute("supportedParams") != null)
+                else
                 {
-                    capabilities.SupportedMovieSearchParameters = xmlMovieSearch.Attribute("supportedParams").Value.Split(',');
-                    capabilities.SupportsAggregateIdSearch = true;
+                    if (xmlMovieSearch.Attribute("supportedParams") != null)
+                    {
+                        capabilities.SupportedMovieSearchParameters = xmlMovieSearch.Attribute("supportedParams").Value.Split(',');
+                        capabilities.SupportsAggregateIdSearch = true;
+                    }
+
+                    capabilities.MovieTextSearchEngine = xmlMovieSearch.Attribute("searchEngine")?.Value ?? capabilities.MovieTextSearchEngine;
                 }
             }
 
diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Newznab/NewznabRequestGenerator.cs b/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Newznab/NewznabRequestGenerator.cs
index 7c302023d..a725a9756 100644
--- a/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Newznab/NewznabRequestGenerator.cs
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Newznab/NewznabRequestGenerator.cs
@@ -65,6 +65,26 @@ private bool SupportsAggregatedIdSearch
             }
         }
 
+        private string TextSearchEngine
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                var capabilities = _capabilitiesProvider.GetCapabilities(Settings);
+
+                return capabilities.TextSearchEngine;
+            }
+        }
+
+        private string MovieTextSearchEngine
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                var capabilities = _capabilitiesProvider.GetCapabilities(Settings);
+
+                return capabilities.MovieTextSearchEngine;
+            }
+        }
+
         public virtual IndexerPageableRequestChain GetRecentRequests()
         {
             var pageableRequests = new IndexerPageableRequestChain();
@@ -135,7 +155,8 @@ private void AddMovieIdPageableRequests(IndexerPageableRequestChain chain, int m
             if (SupportsSearch)
             {
                 chain.AddTier();
-                foreach (var queryTitle in searchCriteria.QueryTitles)
+                var queryTitles = TextSearchEngine == "raw" ? searchCriteria.SceneTitles : searchCriteria.QueryTitles;
+                foreach (var queryTitle in queryTitles)
                 {
                     var searchQuery = queryTitle;