diff --git a/daemon.py b/daemon.py
index c18eed448..5abe4bb91 100644
--- a/daemon.py
+++ b/daemon.py
@@ -3853,7 +3853,10 @@ class PubServer(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
                 search_str = search_str.split('&')[0]
             search_str = \
                 urllib.parse.unquote_plus(search_str.strip())
-            search_str = search_str.lower().strip()
+            search_str = search_str.strip()
+            # hashtags can be combined case
+            if not search_str.startswith('#'):
+                search_str = search_str.lower()
             print('search_str: ' + search_str)
             if search_for_emoji:
                 search_str = ':' + search_str + ':'