diff --git a/user/selector/lib.php b/user/selector/lib.php
index e1cdfbb635a..84a43b7f55f 100644
--- a/user/selector/lib.php
+++ b/user/selector/lib.php
@@ -471,8 +471,8 @@ abstract class user_selector_base {
 
         // Initialise the selector.
         $output .= print_js_call('new user_selector', array($this->name, $hash,
-                sesskey(), $this->extrafields, get_string('previouslyselectedusers'),
-                get_string('nomatchingusers')), true);
+                sesskey(), $this->extrafields, get_string('previouslyselectedusers', '', '%%SEARCHTERM%%'),
+                get_string('nomatchingusers', '', '%%SEARCHTERM%%')), true);
         return $output;
     }
 }
diff --git a/user/selector/script.js b/user/selector/script.js
index 6850c8f7457..07e33b93b87 100644
--- a/user/selector/script.js
+++ b/user/selector/script.js
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ user_selector.prototype.handle_selection_change = function() {
 
 // Methods for refreshing the list of displayed options ========================
 user_selector.prototype.insert_search_into_str = function(string, search) {
-    return string.replace("''", "'" + search + "'");
+    return string.replace("%%SEARCHTERM%%", search);
 }
 
 /**