diff --git a/ua/org.eclipse.help.base/preferences.ini b/ua/org.eclipse.help.base/preferences.ini
index 9202c2d6f28..c5c16e99bb0 100644
--- a/ua/org.eclipse.help.base/preferences.ini
+++ b/ua/org.eclipse.help.base/preferences.ini
@@ -207,6 +207,12 @@ maxConnections=10
 # Example: maxTopics=
 maxTopics=500
 
+# Max number of topics to be searched for before filtering is applied
+# If the number is too small, hits may be missed when searching e.g. in a topic and its subtopics
+# The higher the number, the slightly worse the performance
+# Assign a value greater than maxTopics (see above), but no greater than Integer.MAX_VALUE
+maxHitsBeforeFiltering=1000
+
 #########################
 # Search Results
 #########################
diff --git a/ua/org.eclipse.help.base/src/org/eclipse/help/internal/search/SearchIndex.java b/ua/org.eclipse.help.base/src/org/eclipse/help/internal/search/SearchIndex.java
index 18d59efd843..9977325be92 100644
--- a/ua/org.eclipse.help.base/src/org/eclipse/help/internal/search/SearchIndex.java
+++ b/ua/org.eclipse.help.base/src/org/eclipse/help/internal/search/SearchIndex.java
@@ -92,6 +92,9 @@
  */
 public class SearchIndex implements IHelpSearchIndex {
 
+	private static final int MAX_HITS_BEFORE_FILTERING = Platform.getPreferencesService()
+			.getInt(HelpBasePlugin.PLUGIN_ID, "maxHitsBeforeFiltering", 1_000, null); //$NON-NLS-1$
+
 	private IndexReader ir;
 
 	private IndexWriter iw;
@@ -662,7 +665,7 @@ public void search(ISearchQuery searchQuery, ISearchHitCollector collector) thro
 			}
 			if (luceneQuery == null)
 				return;
-			TopDocs topDocs = searcher.search(luceneQuery, 1000);
+			TopDocs topDocs = searcher.search(luceneQuery, MAX_HITS_BEFORE_FILTERING);
 			collector.addHits(LocalSearchManager.asList(topDocs, searcher), queryBuilder.gethighlightTerms());
 		} catch (IndexSearcher.TooManyClauses tmc) {
 			collector.addQTCException(new QueryTooComplexException());