diff --git a/wp-includes/class-wp-object-query.php b/wp-includes/class-wp-object-query.php
index 240d68de14..7798cd00b8 100644
--- a/wp-includes/class-wp-object-query.php
+++ b/wp-includes/class-wp-object-query.php
@@ -227,17 +227,19 @@ class WP_Object_Query {
 	 *
 	 * @param string $string
 	 * @param array $cols
+	 * @param bool $wild Whether to allow trailing wildcard searches. Default is false.
 	 * @return string
 	 */
-	function get_search_sql( $string, $cols ) {
+	function get_search_sql( $string, $cols, $wild = false ) {
 		$string = esc_sql( $string );
 
 		$searches = array();
+		$wild_char = ( $wild ) ? '%' : '';
 		foreach ( $cols as $col ) {
 			if ( 'ID' == $col )
 				$searches[] = "$col = '$string'";
 			else
-				$searches[] = "$col LIKE '$string%'";
+				$searches[] = "$col LIKE '$string$wild_char'";
 		}
 
 		return ' AND (' . implode(' OR ', $searches) . ')';
diff --git a/wp-includes/user.php b/wp-includes/user.php
index 6734f1514c..1120143f5c 100644
--- a/wp-includes/user.php
+++ b/wp-includes/user.php
@@ -446,6 +446,11 @@ class WP_User_Query extends WP_Object_Query {
 
 		$search = trim( $qv['search'] );
 		if ( $search ) {
+			$wild = false;
+			if ( false !== strpos($search, '*') ) {
+				$wild = 'true';
+				$search = trim($search, '*');
+			}
 			if ( false !== strpos( $search, '@') )
 				$search_columns[] = array('user_email');
 			elseif ( is_numeric($search) )
@@ -455,7 +460,7 @@ class WP_User_Query extends WP_Object_Query {
 			else
 				$search_columns = array('user_login', 'user_nicename', 'display_name');
 
-			$this->query_where .= $this->get_search_sql( $search, $search_columns );
+			$this->query_where .= $this->get_search_sql( $search, $search_columns, $wild );
 		}
 
 		$this->parse_meta_query( $qv );