diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/fix-bleve-search.md b/changelog/unreleased/fix-bleve-search.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5e0abea8b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/fix-bleve-search.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+Bugfix: Fix the kql-bleve search
+
+We fixed the issue when 500 on searches that contain ":". Added the characters escaping according to https://blevesearch.com/docs/Query-String-Query/
+
+
+https://github.com/owncloud/ocis/pull/7290
+https://github.com/owncloud/ocis/issues/7282
diff --git a/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler.go b/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler.go
index 5876f0b81a..c7b1c70d82 100644
--- a/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler.go
+++ b/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler.go
@@ -26,6 +26,34 @@ var _fields = map[string]string{
 	"hidden":   "Hidden",
 }
 
+// The following quoted string enumerates the characters which may be escaped: "+-=&|><!(){}[]^\"~*?:\\/ "
+// based on bleve docs https://blevesearch.com/docs/Query-String-Query/
+// Wildcards * and ? are excluded
+var bleveEscaper = strings.NewReplacer(
+	`+`, `\+`,
+	`-`, `\-`,
+	`=`, `\=`,
+	`&`, `\&`,
+	`|`, `\|`,
+	`>`, `\>`,
+	`<`, `\<`,
+	`!`, `\!`,
+	`(`, `\(`,
+	`)`, `\)`,
+	`{`, `\{`,
+	`}`, `\}`,
+	`{`, `\}`,
+	`[`, `\[`,
+	`]`, `\]`,
+	`^`, `\^`,
+	`"`, `\"`,
+	`~`, `\~`,
+	`:`, `\:`,
+	`\`, `\\`,
+	`/`, `\/`,
+	` `, `\ `,
+)
+
 // Compiler represents a KQL query search string to the bleve query formatter.
 type Compiler struct{}
 
@@ -58,7 +86,10 @@ func walk(offset int, nodes []ast.Node) (bleveQuery.Query, int, error) {
 		switch n := nodes[i].(type) {
 		case *ast.StringNode:
 			k := getField(n.Key)
-			v := strings.ReplaceAll(n.Value, " ", `\ `)
+			v := n.Value
+			if k != "ID" && k != "Size" {
+				v = bleveEscaper.Replace(n.Value)
+			}
 
 			if k != "Hidden" {
 				v = strings.ToLower(v)
diff --git a/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler_test.go b/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler_test.go
index 4743a069a8..7a36b647dc 100644
--- a/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler_test.go
+++ b/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler_test.go
@@ -341,6 +341,18 @@ func Test_compile(t *testing.T) {
 			}),
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
+		{
+			name: `John Smith`,
+			args: &ast.Ast{
+				Nodes: []ast.Node{
+					&ast.StringNode{Value: "John Smith +-=&|><!(){}[]^\"~: "},
+				},
+			},
+			want: query.NewConjunctionQuery([]query.Query{
+				query.NewQueryStringQuery(`Name:john\ smith\ \+\-\=\&\|\>\<\!\(\)\{\}\[\]\^\"\~\:\ `),
+			}),
+			wantErr: false,
+		},
 	}
 
 	assert := tAssert.New(t)
@@ -357,3 +369,34 @@ func Test_compile(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func Test_escape(t *testing.T) {
+	type args struct {
+		str string
+	}
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		args args
+		want string
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "all escaped",
+			args: args{
+				`+-=&|><!(){}[]^"~:\/ `,
+			},
+			want: `\+\-\=\&\|\>\<\!\(\)\{\}\[\]\^\"\~\:\\\/\ `,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "no one escaped",
+			args: args{
+				`@#$%`,
+			},
+			want: `@#$%`,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			tAssert.Equalf(t, tt.want, bleveEscaper.Replace(tt.args.str), "bleveEscaper(%v)", tt.args.str)
+		})
+	}
+}