Refine WP_Query search logic by adjusting $like variable handling

Author: spacedmonkey

src/wp-includes/class-wp-query.php

@@ -1512,13 +1512,11 @@ protected function parse_search( &$query_vars ) {
 				$andor_op = 'OR';
 			}
 
+			$like = $start . $wpdb->esc_like( $term ) . $end;
 			if ( $end && ! $exclude ) {
-				$like                                 = '%' . $wpdb->esc_like( $term ) . '%';
 				$query_vars['search_orderby_title'][] = $wpdb->prepare( "{$wpdb->posts}.post_title LIKE %s", $like );
 			}
 
-			$like = $start . $wpdb->esc_like( $term ) . $end;
-
 			$search_columns_parts = array();
 			foreach ( $search_columns as $search_column ) {
 				$search_columns_parts[ $search_column ] = $wpdb->prepare( "({$wpdb->posts}.$search_column $like_op %s)", $like );