diff --git a/wp-admin/plugins.php b/wp-admin/plugins.php
index 76c6377a8e..c34b6a5534 100644
--- a/wp-admin/plugins.php
+++ b/wp-admin/plugins.php
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ $pagenum = $wp_list_table->get_pagenum();
 $action = $wp_list_table->current_action();
 
 $plugin = isset($_REQUEST['plugin']) ? $_REQUEST['plugin'] : '';
-$s = isset($_REQUEST['s']) ? $_REQUEST['s'] : '';
+$s = isset($_REQUEST['s']) ? urlencode($_REQUEST['s']) : '';
 
 // Clean up request URI from temporary args for screen options/paging uri's to work as expected.
 $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] = remove_query_arg(array('error', 'deleted', 'activate', 'activate-multi', 'deactivate', 'deactivate-multi', '_error_nonce'), $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']);