diff --git a/AnkiDroid/src/main/java/com/ichi2/anki/CardBrowser.kt b/AnkiDroid/src/main/java/com/ichi2/anki/CardBrowser.kt
index c4047e01be4c..540a249e4627 100644
--- a/AnkiDroid/src/main/java/com/ichi2/anki/CardBrowser.kt
+++ b/AnkiDroid/src/main/java/com/ichi2/anki/CardBrowser.kt
@@ -382,6 +382,7 @@ open class CardBrowser :
         )
 
         val launchOptions = intent?.toCardBrowserLaunchOptions() // must be called after super.onCreate()
+
         // must be called once we have an accessible collection
         viewModel = createViewModel(launchOptions)
 
diff --git a/AnkiDroid/src/main/java/com/ichi2/anki/browser/CardBrowserViewModel.kt b/AnkiDroid/src/main/java/com/ichi2/anki/browser/CardBrowserViewModel.kt
index a4d16bc5ac40..6836b8badc9b 100644
--- a/AnkiDroid/src/main/java/com/ichi2/anki/browser/CardBrowserViewModel.kt
+++ b/AnkiDroid/src/main/java/com/ichi2/anki/browser/CardBrowserViewModel.kt
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ import androidx.lifecycle.viewmodel.viewModelFactory
 import anki.collection.OpChanges
 import anki.collection.OpChangesWithCount
 import anki.config.ConfigKey
-import anki.generic.Bool
 import anki.search.BrowserColumns
 import anki.search.BrowserRow
 import com.ichi2.anki.AnkiDroidApp
@@ -86,7 +85,9 @@ import java.io.DataOutputStream
 import java.io.File
 import java.io.FileInputStream
 import java.io.FileOutputStream
+import java.text.Normalizer
 import java.util.Collections
+import java.util.regex.Pattern
 import kotlin.math.max
 import kotlin.math.min
 
@@ -222,6 +223,8 @@ class CardBrowserViewModel(
         viewModelScope.launch {
             val defaultText = withCol { config.getString(ConfigKey.String.DEFAULT_SEARCH_TEXT) }
             defaultBrowserSearch = defaultText
+            searchTerms = defaultText
+            setSearchTerms(defaultText)
         }
 
     suspend fun setDeckId(deckId: DeckId) {
@@ -303,6 +306,10 @@ class CardBrowserViewModel(
             emit(Unit)
         }
 
+    fun setSearchTerms(text: String) {
+        searchTerms = text
+    }
+
     init {
         Timber.d("CardBrowserViewModel::init")
 
@@ -321,7 +328,21 @@ class CardBrowserViewModel(
             is CardBrowserLaunchOptions.DeepLink -> {
                 searchTerms = options.search
             }
-            null -> {
+            null -> {}
+        }
+
+        viewModelScope.launch {
+            // Ensure intent-based search takes priority
+            if (searchTerms.isEmpty()) {
+                val searchText: String =
+                    withCol {
+                        config.getString(ConfigKey.String.DEFAULT_SEARCH_TEXT)
+                    }
+
+                Timber.d("Default search term text: $searchText")
+                if (searchText.isNotEmpty()) {
+                    setSearchTerms(searchText)
+                }
             }
         }
 
@@ -935,8 +956,22 @@ class CardBrowserViewModel(
             Timber.d("skipping duplicate search: forceRefresh is false")
             return
         }
-        searchTerms = searchQuery
-        launchSearchForCards()
+        viewModelScope.launch {
+            searchTerms =
+                if (shouldIgnoreAccents()) {
+                    searchQuery.normalizeForSearch()
+                } else {
+                    searchQuery
+                }
+            launchSearchForCards()
+        }
+    }
+
+    private suspend fun shouldIgnoreAccents() = withCol { config.getBool(ConfigKey.Bool.IGNORE_ACCENTS_IN_SEARCH) }
+
+    private fun String.normalizeForSearch(): String {
+        val normalized = Normalizer.normalize(this, Normalizer.Form.NFD)
+        return Pattern.compile("\\p{InCombiningDiacriticalMarks}+").matcher(normalized).replaceAll("")
     }
 
     /**