diff --git a/mozilla/browser/app/profile/firefox.js b/mozilla/browser/app/profile/firefox.js
index 2293685f984..2aa1aab166b 100644
--- a/mozilla/browser/app/profile/firefox.js
+++ b/mozilla/browser/app/profile/firefox.js
@@ -213,6 +213,9 @@ pref("browser.search.order.Yahoo",            "chrome://branding/content/searchc
 // (note: must be a string representation of a float or it'll default to 0.0)
 pref("browser.search.basic.min_ver", "0.0");
 
+// search bar results always open in a new tab
+pref("browser.search.openintab", false);
+
 // send ping to the server to update
 pref("browser.search.update", true);
 
diff --git a/mozilla/browser/base/content/search.xml b/mozilla/browser/base/content/search.xml
index cc3712545ea..9c5f0c4906d 100644
--- a/mozilla/browser/base/content/search.xml
+++ b/mozilla/browser/base/content/search.xml
@@ -323,7 +323,8 @@
             } catch (ex) {}
           }
           var evt = aEvent || this.mEnterEvent;
-          SearchLoadURL(searchURL, (evt && evt.altKey));
+          var openInTab = this.prefService.getBoolPref("browser.search.openintab");
+          SearchLoadURL(searchURL, (evt && evt.altKey || openInTab));
         ]]></body>
       </method>