diff --git a/lib/api/apiUtils/bucket/parseLikeExpression.js b/lib/api/apiUtils/bucket/parseLikeExpression.js
index d5fc2a6c3a..0b85cfa6d8 100644
--- a/lib/api/apiUtils/bucket/parseLikeExpression.js
+++ b/lib/api/apiUtils/bucket/parseLikeExpression.js
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ function parseLikeExpression(regex) {
     }
     const pattern = split.slice(1, split.length - 1).join('/');
     const regexOpt = split[split.length - 1];
-    return { $regex: pattern, $options: regexOpt };
+    return { $regex: new RegExp(pattern), $options: regexOpt };
 }
 
 module.exports = parseLikeExpression;
diff --git a/lib/api/bucketGet.js b/lib/api/bucketGet.js
index d76d816cd8..d98ab7a7ec 100644
--- a/lib/api/bucketGet.js
+++ b/lib/api/bucketGet.js
@@ -283,7 +283,16 @@ function bucketGet(authInfo, request, log, callback) {
         }
         if (params.search !== undefined) {
             log.info('performaing search listing', { search: params.search });
-            listParams.mongifiedSearch = parseWhere(validatedAst);
+            try {
+                listParams.mongifiedSearch = parseWhere(validatedAst);
+            } catch (err) {
+                log.debug(err.message, {
+                    stack: err.stack,
+                });
+                return callback(errors.InvalidArgument
+                .customizeDescription('Invalid sql where clause ' +
+                'sent as search query'));
+            }
         }
         return services.getObjectListing(bucketName, listParams, log,
         (err, list) => {
diff --git a/tests.bash b/tests.bash
index a128ef3b1e..b197cc8844 100644
--- a/tests.bash
+++ b/tests.bash
@@ -134,25 +134,25 @@ then
 
   killandsleep 8000
 
-  # Run with mongdb backend ; run ft_tests 
+  # Run with mongdb backend ; run ft_tests
 
-  S3BACKEND=mem MPU_TESTING=yes S3METADATA=mongodb npm start > $CIRCLE_ARTIFACTS/server_mongodb_awssdk.txt & bash wait_for_local_port.bash 8000 40 && S3DATA=file npm run ft_awssdk
+  S3BACKEND=mem MPU_TESTING=yes S3METADATA=mongodb npm start > $CIRCLE_ARTIFACTS/server_mongodb_awssdk.txt & bash wait_for_local_port.bash 8000 40 && S3DATA=file S3METADATA=mongodb npm run ft_awssdk
 
   killandsleep 8000
 
-  S3BACKEND=mem MPU_TESTING=yes S3METADATA=mongodb npm start > $CIRCLE_ARTIFACTS/server_mongodb_s3cmd.txt & bash wait_for_local_port.bash 8000 40 && S3DATA=file npm run ft_s3cmd
+  S3BACKEND=mem MPU_TESTING=yes S3METADATA=mongodb npm start > $CIRCLE_ARTIFACTS/server_mongodb_s3cmd.txt & bash wait_for_local_port.bash 8000 40 && S3DATA=file S3METADATA=mongodb npm run ft_s3cmd
 
   killandsleep 8000
- 
-  S3BACKEND=mem MPU_TESTING=yes S3METADATA=mongodb npm start > $CIRCLE_ARTIFACTS/server_mongodb_s3curl.txt & bash wait_for_local_port.bash 8000 40 && S3DATA=file npm run ft_s3curl
+
+  S3BACKEND=mem MPU_TESTING=yes S3METADATA=mongodb npm start > $CIRCLE_ARTIFACTS/server_mongodb_s3curl.txt & bash wait_for_local_port.bash 8000 40 && S3DATA=file S3METADATA=mongodb npm run ft_s3curl
 
   killandsleep 8000
 
-  S3BACKEND=mem MPU_TESTING=yes S3METADATA=mongodb npm start > $CIRCLE_ARTIFACTS/server_mongodb_healthchecks.txt & bash wait_for_local_port.bash 8000 40 && S3DATA=file npm run ft_healthchecks
+  S3BACKEND=mem MPU_TESTING=yes S3METADATA=mongodb npm start > $CIRCLE_ARTIFACTS/server_mongodb_healthchecks.txt & bash wait_for_local_port.bash 8000 40 && S3DATA=file S3METADATA=mongodb npm run ft_healthchecks
 
   killandsleep 8000
 
-  S3BACKEND=mem MPU_TESTING=yes S3METADATA=mongodb npm start > $CIRCLE_ARTIFACTS/server_mongodb_management.txt & bash wait_for_local_port.bash 8000 40 && npm run ft_management
+  S3BACKEND=mem MPU_TESTING=yes S3METADATA=mongodb npm start > $CIRCLE_ARTIFACTS/server_mongodb_management.txt & bash wait_for_local_port.bash 8000 40 && S3METADATA=mongodb npm run ft_management
 
   killandsleep 8000
 
diff --git a/tests/functional/aws-node-sdk/test/mdSearch/basicSearch.js b/tests/functional/aws-node-sdk/test/mdSearch/basicSearch.js
index d544f3bd11..6e894bd7f2 100644
--- a/tests/functional/aws-node-sdk/test/mdSearch/basicSearch.js
+++ b/tests/functional/aws-node-sdk/test/mdSearch/basicSearch.js
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ runIfMongo('Search when no objects in bucket', () => {
 });
 
 runIfMongo('Invalid regular expression searches', () => {
-    const bucketName = `noobjectbucket${Date.now()}`;
+    const bucketName = `badregex-${Date.now()}`;
     before(done => {
         s3Client.createBucket({ Bucket: bucketName }, done);
     });
@@ -132,18 +132,8 @@ runIfMongo('Invalid regular expression searches', () => {
     it('should return error if pattern is invalid', done => {
         const encodedSearch = encodeURIComponent('key LIKE "/((helloworld/"');
         const testError = {
-            code: 'InternalError',
-            message: 'We encountered an internal error. Please try again.',
-        };
-        return runAndCheckSearch(s3Client, bucketName,
-            encodedSearch, testError, done);
-    });
-
-    it('should return error if regex flag is invalid', done => {
-        const encodedSearch = encodeURIComponent('key LIKE "/((helloworld/ii"');
-        const testError = {
-            code: 'InternalError',
-            message: 'We encountered an internal error. Please try again.',
+            code: 'InvalidArgument',
+            message: 'Invalid sql where clause sent as search query',
         };
         return runAndCheckSearch(s3Client, bucketName,
             encodedSearch, testError, done);
diff --git a/tests/unit/api/parseLikeExpression.js b/tests/unit/api/parseLikeExpression.js
index e4663a09f5..469b6a8df7 100644
--- a/tests/unit/api/parseLikeExpression.js
+++ b/tests/unit/api/parseLikeExpression.js
@@ -14,11 +14,11 @@ describe('parseLikeExpression', () => {
         },
         {
             input: '/ice-cream-cone/',
-            output: { $regex: 'ice-cream-cone', $options: '' },
+            output: { $regex: /ice-cream-cone/, $options: '' },
         },
         {
             input: '/ice-cream-cone/i',
-            output: { $regex: 'ice-cream-cone', $options: 'i' },
+            output: { $regex: /ice-cream-cone/, $options: 'i' },
         },
         {
             input: 'an/ice-cream-cone/',
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ describe('parseLikeExpression', () => {
         },
         {
             input: '///',
-            output: { $regex: '/', $options: '' },
+            output: { $regex: /\//, $options: '' },
         },
     ];
     tests.forEach(test => it('should return correct MongoDB query object: ' +