diff --git a/static/js/auto-complete.js b/static/js/auto-complete.js
index c098944358..52b8ce138c 100644
--- a/static/js/auto-complete.js
+++ b/static/js/auto-complete.js
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@
             - don't empty search input if no data-val is given
             - don't delete search term but close suggestions when suggestions are open
             - delete search term when suggestions are closed
+        McShelby/hugo-theme-relearn#452
+            - register focus event ignoring minChars because that doesn't make sense
+
     Copyright (c) 2014 Simon Steinberger / Pixabay
     GitHub: https://github.com/Pixabay/JavaScript-autoComplete
     License: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php
@@ -240,7 +243,7 @@ var autoComplete = (function(){
                 that.last_val = '\n';
                 that.keyupHandler(e)
             };
-            if (!o.minChars) addEvent(that, 'focus', that.focusHandler);
+            addEvent(that, 'focus', that.focusHandler);
         }
 
         // public destroy method
diff --git a/static/js/search.js b/static/js/search.js
index 25af6243bb..ce07cf705f 100644
--- a/static/js/search.js
+++ b/static/js/search.js
@@ -203,10 +203,11 @@ function searchDetail() {
     setTimeout( adjustContentWidth, 0 );
 }
 
-// Let's get started
 initLunrJson();
 initLunrJs();
-$(function() {
+
+
+function startSearch(){
     var url = new URL( window.location );
     window.history.replaceState(url.toString(), '', url);
 
@@ -245,9 +246,6 @@ $(function() {
             e.preventDefault();
         }
     });
+};
 
-    // JavaScript-autoComplete only registers the focus event when minChars is 0 which doesn't make sense, let's do it ourselves
-    // https://github.com/Pixabay/JavaScript-autoComplete/blob/master/auto-complete.js#L191
-    var selector = $('#search-by').get(0);
-    $(selector).focus(selector.focusHandler);
-});
+ready( startSearch );
diff --git a/static/js/theme.js b/static/js/theme.js
index bedce01da2..58608126cb 100644
--- a/static/js/theme.js
+++ b/static/js/theme.js
@@ -807,62 +807,89 @@ function unmark(){
     psm && psm.update();
 }
 
-function searchInputHandler(value) {
+// replace jQuery.createPseudo with https://stackoverflow.com/a/66318392
+function elementContains( txt, e ){
+    var regex = RegExp( txt, 'i' );
+    var nodes = [];
+    if( e ){
+        var tree = document.createTreeWalker( e, 4 /* NodeFilter.SHOW_TEXT */, function( node ){
+            return regex.test( node.data );
+        });
+        var node = null;
+        while( node = tree.nextNode() ){
+            nodes.push( node.parentElement );
+        }
+    }
+    return nodes;
+}
+
+function searchInputHandler( value ){
     unmark();
-    if (value.length) {
-        sessionStorage.setItem(baseUriFull+'search-value', value);
+    if( value.length ){
+        sessionStorage.setItem( baseUriFull+'search-value', value );
         mark();
     }
 }
 
 function initSearch() {
     // sync input/escape between searchbox and searchdetail
-    jQuery('input.search-by').on('keydown', function(event) {
-        if (event.key == "Escape") {
-            var input = jQuery(this);
-            input.blur();
-            searchInputHandler( '' );
-            jQuery('input.search-by').val('');
-            documentFocus();
-        }
-    });
-    jQuery('input.search-by').on('input', function() {
-        var input = jQuery(this);
-        var value = input.val();
-        searchInputHandler( value );
-        jQuery('input.search-by').not(this).val($(this).val());
+    var inputs = document.querySelectorAll( 'input.search-by' );
+    inputs.forEach( function( e ){
+        e.addEventListener( 'keydown', function( event ){
+            if( event.key == 'Escape' ){
+                var input = event.target;
+                input.blur();
+                searchInputHandler( '' );
+                inputs.forEach( function( e ){
+                    e.value = '';
+                });
+                documentFocus();
+            }
+        });
+        e.addEventListener( 'input', function( event ){
+            var input = event.target;
+            var value = input.value;
+            searchInputHandler( value );
+            inputs.forEach( function( e ){
+                if( e != input ){
+                    e.value = value;
+                }
+            });
+        });
     });
 
-    jQuery('[data-search-clear]').on('click', function() {
-        jQuery('[data-search-input]').val('').trigger('input');
-        unmark();
+    document.querySelectorAll( '[data-search-clear]' ).forEach( function( e ){
+        e.addEventListener( 'click', function(){
+            inputs.forEach( function( e ){
+                e.value = '';
+                e.dispatchEvent( new Event( 'input' ) );
+            });
+            unmark();
+        });
     });
 
-    var urlParams = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search);
-    var value = urlParams.get('search-by');
+    var urlParams = new URLSearchParams( window.location.search );
+    var value = urlParams.get( 'search-by' );
     if( value ){
-        sessionStorage.setItem(baseUriFull+'search-value', value);
+        sessionStorage.setItem( baseUriFull+'search-value', value );
     }
     mark();
 
-    // custom sizzle case insensitive "contains" pseudo selector
-    $.expr[":"].contains = $.expr.createPseudo(function(arg) {
-        return function( elem ) {
-            return $(elem).text().toUpperCase().indexOf(arg.toUpperCase()) >= 0;
-        };
-    });
-
     // set initial search value on page load
-    if (sessionStorage.getItem(baseUriFull+'search-value')) {
-        var searchValue = sessionStorage.getItem(baseUriFull+'search-value')
-        $('[data-search-input]').val(searchValue);
-        $('[data-search-input]').trigger('input');
-        var searchedElem = $('#body-inner').find(':contains(' + searchValue + ')').get(0);
-        if (searchedElem) {
-            searchedElem.scrollIntoView(true);
+    if( sessionStorage.getItem( baseUriFull+'search-value' ) ){
+        var searchValue = sessionStorage.getItem( baseUriFull+'search-value' );
+        inputs.forEach( function( e ){
+            e.value = searchValue;
+            e.dispatchEvent( new Event( 'input' ) );
+        });
+
+        var found = elementContains( searchValue, document.querySelector( '#body-inner' ) );
+        var searchedElem = found.length && found[ 0 ];
+        if( searchedElem ){
+            searchedElem.scrollIntoView( true );
             var scrolledY = window.scrollY;
-            if(scrolledY){
-                window.scroll(0, scrolledY - 125);
+            if( scrolledY ){
+                window.scroll( 0, scrolledY - 125 );
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/static/js/variant.js b/static/js/variant.js
index 6869aeb1a7..167e9e1120 100644
--- a/static/js/variant.js
+++ b/static/js/variant.js
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ function _unsupportedIterableToArray(o, minLen) { if (!o) return; if (typeof o =
 
 function _arrayLikeToArray(arr, len) { if (len == null || len > arr.length) len = arr.length; for (var i = 0, arr2 = new Array(len); i < len; i++) { arr2[i] = arr[i]; } return arr2; }
 
+function ready(fn) { if (document.readyState !== 'loading') { fn(); } else { document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded',fn); } }
+
 var variants = {
 	variant: '',
 	variants: [],