diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4be333c2924..a6ce6dc1114 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ Internal types are updated to use `scope` instead of `instrumentation_library`.
 * [BUGFIX] Fix traceql parsing of most binary operations to not require spacing [#1939](https://github.com/grafana/tempo/pull/1941) (@mdisibio)
 * [BUGFIX] Don't persist tenants without blocks in the ingester[#1947](https://github.com/grafana/tempo/pull/1947) (@joe-elliott)
 * [BUGFIX] TraceQL: span scope not working with ranges [#1948](https://github.com/grafana/tempo/issues/1948) (@mdisibio)
+* [BUGFIX] TraceQL: skip live traces search [#1997](https://github.com/grafana/tempo/pull/1997) (@mapno)
 
 ## v1.5.0 / 2022-08-17
 
diff --git a/integration/e2e/e2e_test.go b/integration/e2e/e2e_test.go
index c240701bb4e..2da032ea00c 100644
--- a/integration/e2e/e2e_test.go
+++ b/integration/e2e/e2e_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 	"math/rand"
+	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"reflect"
@@ -106,6 +107,9 @@ func TestAllInOne(t *testing.T) {
 			// flush trace to backend
 			callFlush(t, tempo)
 
+			// traceql search and verify trace is searchable once cut
+			util.SearchTraceQLAndAssertTrace(t, apiClient, info)
+
 			// sleep
 			time.Sleep(10 * time.Second)
 
@@ -115,7 +119,7 @@ func TestAllInOne(t *testing.T) {
 			// test metrics
 			require.NoError(t, tempo.WaitSumMetrics(e2e.Equals(1), "tempo_ingester_blocks_flushed_total"))
 			require.NoError(t, tempo.WaitSumMetricsWithOptions(e2e.Equals(1), []string{"tempodb_blocklist_length"}, e2e.WaitMissingMetrics))
-			require.NoError(t, tempo.WaitSumMetrics(e2e.Equals(4), "tempo_query_frontend_queries_total"))
+			require.NoError(t, tempo.WaitSumMetrics(e2e.Equals(5), "tempo_query_frontend_queries_total"))
 
 			// query trace - should fetch from backend
 			queryAndAssertTrace(t, apiClient, info)
@@ -451,7 +455,7 @@ func callFlush(t *testing.T, ingester *e2e.HTTPService) {
 	fmt.Printf("Calling /flush on %s\n", ingester.Name())
 	res, err := e2e.DoGet("http://" + ingester.Endpoint(3200) + "/flush")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Equal(t, 204, res.StatusCode)
+	require.Equal(t, http.StatusNoContent, res.StatusCode)
 }
 
 func callIngesterRing(t *testing.T, svc *e2e.HTTPService) {
@@ -459,7 +463,7 @@ func callIngesterRing(t *testing.T, svc *e2e.HTTPService) {
 	fmt.Printf("Calling %s on %s\n", endpoint, svc.Name())
 	res, err := e2e.DoGet("http://" + svc.Endpoint(3200) + endpoint)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Equal(t, 200, res.StatusCode)
+	require.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, res.StatusCode)
 }
 
 func callCompactorRing(t *testing.T, svc *e2e.HTTPService) {
@@ -467,7 +471,7 @@ func callCompactorRing(t *testing.T, svc *e2e.HTTPService) {
 	fmt.Printf("Calling %s on %s\n", endpoint, svc.Name())
 	res, err := e2e.DoGet("http://" + svc.Endpoint(3200) + endpoint)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Equal(t, 200, res.StatusCode)
+	require.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, res.StatusCode)
 }
 
 func callStatus(t *testing.T, svc *e2e.HTTPService) {
@@ -475,16 +479,13 @@ func callStatus(t *testing.T, svc *e2e.HTTPService) {
 	fmt.Printf("Calling %s on %s\n", endpoint, svc.Name())
 	res, err := e2e.DoGet("http://" + svc.Endpoint(3200) + endpoint)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	// body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(res.Body)
-	// require.NoError(t, err)
-	// t.Logf("body: %+v", string(body))
-	require.Equal(t, 200, res.StatusCode)
+	require.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, res.StatusCode)
 }
 
 func assertEcho(t *testing.T, url string) {
 	res, err := e2e.DoGet(url)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Equal(t, 200, res.StatusCode)
+	require.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, res.StatusCode)
 	defer res.Body.Close()
 }
 
diff --git a/integration/util.go b/integration/util.go
index 8fba74ea2b6..bc42bbe6bc0 100644
--- a/integration/util.go
+++ b/integration/util.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package integration
 // Collection of utilities to share between our various load tests
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
@@ -251,6 +252,31 @@ func SearchAndAssertTrace(t *testing.T, client *tempoUtil.Client, info *tempoUti
 	require.True(t, hasHex(info.HexID(), resp))
 }
 
+func SearchTraceQLAndAssertTrace(t *testing.T, client *tempoUtil.Client, info *tempoUtil.TraceInfo) {
+	expected, err := info.ConstructTraceFromEpoch()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	attr := tempoUtil.RandomAttrFromTrace(expected)
+	query := fmt.Sprintf(`{ .%s = "%s"}`, attr.GetKey(), attr.GetValue().GetStringValue())
+
+	resp, err := client.SearchTraceQL(query)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	hasHex := func(hexId string, resp *tempopb.SearchResponse) bool {
+		for _, s := range resp.Traces {
+			equal, err := tempoUtil.EqualHexStringTraceIDs(s.TraceID, hexId)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			if equal {
+				return true
+			}
+		}
+
+		return false
+	}
+
+	require.True(t, hasHex(info.HexID(), resp))
+}
+
 // by passing a time range and using a query_ingesters_until/backend_after of 0 we can force the queriers
 // to look in the backend blocks
 func SearchAndAssertTraceBackend(t *testing.T, client *tempoUtil.Client, info *tempoUtil.TraceInfo, start int64, end int64) {
diff --git a/modules/ingester/instance_search.go b/modules/ingester/instance_search.go
index 4e70d0be3a6..6234f7985f1 100644
--- a/modules/ingester/instance_search.go
+++ b/modules/ingester/instance_search.go
@@ -40,7 +40,10 @@ func (i *instance) Search(ctx context.Context, req *tempopb.SearchRequest) (*tem
 	sr := search.NewResults()
 	defer sr.Close()
 
-	i.searchLiveTraces(ctx, p, sr)
+	// skip live traces in TraceQL queries
+	if !api.IsTraceQLQuery(req) {
+		i.searchLiveTraces(ctx, p, sr)
+	}
 
 	// Lock blocks mutex until all search tasks have been created. This avoids
 	// deadlocking with other activity (ingest, flushing), caused by releasing
@@ -139,7 +142,7 @@ func (i *instance) searchLiveTraces(ctx context.Context, p search.Pipeline, sr *
 
 // searchWAL starts a search task for every WAL block. Must be called under lock.
 func (i *instance) searchWAL(ctx context.Context, req *tempopb.SearchRequest, p search.Pipeline, sr *search.Results) {
-	searchFunc := func(e *searchStreamingBlockEntry) {
+	searchFBEntry := func(e *searchStreamingBlockEntry) {
 		// flat-buffers search
 		span, ctx := opentracing.StartSpanFromContext(ctx, "instance.searchWAL")
 		defer span.Finish()
@@ -202,9 +205,11 @@ func (i *instance) searchWAL(ctx context.Context, req *tempopb.SearchRequest, p
 		go searchWalBlock(i.headBlock)
 	}
 
-	if i.searchHeadBlock != nil {
+	// skip flat-buffers search in TraceQL queries
+	// sanity check, vParquet blocks shouldn't have flat-buffers search blocks
+	if i.searchHeadBlock != nil && !api.IsTraceQLQuery(req) {
 		sr.StartWorker()
-		go searchFunc(i.searchHeadBlock)
+		go searchFBEntry(i.searchHeadBlock)
 	}
 
 	// completing blocks
@@ -213,42 +218,49 @@ func (i *instance) searchWAL(ctx context.Context, req *tempopb.SearchRequest, p
 		go searchWalBlock(b)
 	}
 
-	for _, e := range i.searchAppendBlocks {
-		sr.StartWorker()
-		go searchFunc(e)
+	// skip flat-buffers search in TraceQL queries
+	// sanity check, vParquet blocks shouldn't have flat-buffers search blocks
+	if !api.IsTraceQLQuery(req) {
+		for _, e := range i.searchAppendBlocks {
+			sr.StartWorker()
+			go searchFBEntry(e)
+		}
 	}
 }
 
 // searchLocalBlocks starts a search task for every local block. Must be called under lock.
 func (i *instance) searchLocalBlocks(ctx context.Context, req *tempopb.SearchRequest, p search.Pipeline, sr *search.Results) {
-	// first check the searchCompleteBlocks map. if there is an entry for a block here we want to search it first
-	for _, e := range i.searchCompleteBlocks {
-		sr.StartWorker()
-		go func(e *searchLocalBlockEntry) {
-			span, ctx := opentracing.StartSpanFromContext(ctx, "instance.fb.searchLocalBlocks")
-			defer span.Finish()
+	if !api.IsTraceQLQuery(req) { // Skip flat-buffers search in TraceQL queries
 
-			defer sr.FinishWorker()
+		// first check the searchCompleteBlocks map. if there is an entry for a block here we want to search it first
+		for _, e := range i.searchCompleteBlocks {
+			sr.StartWorker()
+			go func(e *searchLocalBlockEntry) {
+				span, ctx := opentracing.StartSpanFromContext(ctx, "instance.fb.searchLocalBlocks")
+				defer span.Finish()
 
-			e.mtx.RLock()
-			defer e.mtx.RUnlock()
+				defer sr.FinishWorker()
 
-			span.LogFields(ot_log.Event("local block entry mtx acquired"))
-			span.SetTag("blockID", e.b.BlockID().String())
+				e.mtx.RLock()
+				defer e.mtx.RUnlock()
 
-			// flat-buffers search
-			err := e.b.Search(ctx, p, sr)
-			if err != nil {
-				level.Error(log.Logger).Log("msg", "error searching local block", "blockID", e.b.BlockID().String(), "err", err)
-			}
-		}(e)
+				span.LogFields(ot_log.Event("local block entry mtx acquired"))
+				span.SetTag("blockID", e.b.BlockID().String())
+
+				// flat-buffers search
+				err := e.b.Search(ctx, p, sr)
+				if err != nil {
+					level.Error(log.Logger).Log("msg", "error searching local block", "blockID", e.b.BlockID().String(), "err", err)
+				}
+			}(e)
+		}
 	}
 
 	// next check all complete blocks to see if they were not searched, if they weren't then attempt to search them
 	for _, e := range i.completeBlocks {
-		_, ok := i.searchCompleteBlocks[e]
-		if ok {
+		if _, ok := i.searchCompleteBlocks[e]; ok && !api.IsTraceQLQuery(req) {
 			// no need to search this block, we already did above
+			// only applies to non-traceql queries
 			continue
 		}
 
diff --git a/modules/ingester/instance_search_test.go b/modules/ingester/instance_search_test.go
index 24ca789430d..29b4c1f579f 100644
--- a/modules/ingester/instance_search_test.go
+++ b/modules/ingester/instance_search_test.go
@@ -110,12 +110,16 @@ func TestInstanceSearchTraceQL(t *testing.T) {
 
 			req := &tempopb.SearchRequest{Query: query, Limit: 20}
 
+			// Test live traces
+			sr, err := i.Search(context.Background(), req)
+			assert.NoError(t, err)
+			assert.Len(t, sr.Traces, 0)
+
 			// Test after appending to WAL
-			err := i.CutCompleteTraces(0, true)
-			require.NoError(t, err)
+			require.NoError(t, i.CutCompleteTraces(0, true))
 			assert.Equal(t, int(i.traceCount.Load()), len(i.traces))
 
-			sr, err := i.Search(context.Background(), req)
+			sr, err = i.Search(context.Background(), req)
 			assert.NoError(t, err)
 			assert.Len(t, sr.Traces, len(ids))
 			checkEqual(t, ids, sr)
diff --git a/pkg/util/client.go b/pkg/util/client.go
index b4216103eb3..cdd126c25cb 100644
--- a/pkg/util/client.go
+++ b/pkg/util/client.go
@@ -161,3 +161,13 @@ func (c *Client) QueryTrace(id string) (*tempopb.Trace, error) {
 
 	return m, nil
 }
+
+func (c *Client) SearchTraceQL(query string) (*tempopb.SearchResponse, error) {
+	m := &tempopb.SearchResponse{}
+	_, err := c.getFor(c.BaseURL+"/api/search?q="+url.QueryEscape(query), m)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return m, nil
+}