diff --git a/changes/15458-host-search-pending-display-name b/changes/15458-host-search-pending-display-name
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1509015b20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/15458-host-search-pending-display-name
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- Added ability to query by host display name via list hosts endpoint.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/server/datastore/mysql/hosts.go b/server/datastore/mysql/hosts.go
index 6985364c35..0f7220e794 100644
--- a/server/datastore/mysql/hosts.go
+++ b/server/datastore/mysql/hosts.go
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ var (
 	wildCardableHostSearchColumns = []string{"hostname", "computer_name"}
 )
 
+// TODO: should host search columns include display_name (requires join to host_display_names)?
+
 // Fixme: We should not make implementation details of the database schema part of the API.
 var defaultHostColumnTableAliases = map[string]string{
 	"created_at": "h.created_at",
@@ -1010,9 +1012,12 @@ func (ds *Datastore) applyHostFilters(
 	}
 
 	displayNameJoin := ""
-	if opt.ListOptions.OrderKey == "display_name" {
+	if opt.ListOptions.OrderKey == "display_name" || opt.MatchQuery != "" {
 		displayNameJoin = ` JOIN host_display_names hdn ON h.id = hdn.host_id `
 	}
+	if opt.MatchQuery != "" {
+		displayNameJoin = ` LEFT ` + displayNameJoin
+	}
 
 	lowDiskSpaceFilter := "TRUE"
 	if opt.LowDiskSpaceFilter != nil {
@@ -1077,7 +1082,7 @@ func (ds *Datastore) applyHostFilters(
 
 	sqlStmt, params = filterHostsByMDMBootstrapPackageStatus(sqlStmt, opt, params)
 	sqlStmt, params = filterHostsByOS(sqlStmt, opt, params)
-	sqlStmt, params, _ = hostSearchLike(sqlStmt, params, opt.MatchQuery, hostSearchColumns...)
+	sqlStmt, params, _ = hostSearchLike(sqlStmt, params, opt.MatchQuery, append(hostSearchColumns, "display_name")...)
 	sqlStmt, params = appendListOptionsWithCursorToSQL(sqlStmt, params, &opt.ListOptions)
 
 	return sqlStmt, params, nil
@@ -2357,6 +2362,7 @@ func (ds *Datastore) SearchHosts(ctx context.Context, filter fleet.TeamFilter, m
 		// to get all the additional data for hosts that match the search criteria by host_id
 		matchingHosts := "SELECT id FROM hosts WHERE TRUE"
 		var args []interface{}
+		// TODO: should search columns include display_name (requires join to host_display_names)?
 		searchHostsQuery, args, matchesEmail := hostSearchLike(matchingHosts, args, matchQuery, hostSearchColumns...)
 		// if matchQuery is "email like" then don't bother with the additional wildcard searching
 		if !matchesEmail && len(matchQuery) > 2 && hasNonASCIIRegex(matchQuery) {
diff --git a/server/datastore/mysql/labels.go b/server/datastore/mysql/labels.go
index 9bc4c77c09..d2cf21737d 100644
--- a/server/datastore/mysql/labels.go
+++ b/server/datastore/mysql/labels.go
@@ -595,6 +595,7 @@ func (ds *Datastore) applyHostLabelFilters(ctx context.Context, filter fleet.Tea
 	} else if opt.OSSettingsDiskEncryptionFilter.IsValid() {
 		query, params = ds.filterHostsByOSSettingsDiskEncryptionStatus(query, opt, params, enableDiskEncryption)
 	}
+	// TODO: should search columns include display_name (requires join to host_display_names)?
 	query, params = searchLike(query, params, opt.MatchQuery, hostSearchColumns...)
 
 	query, params = appendListOptionsWithCursorToSQL(query, params, &opt.ListOptions)
diff --git a/server/service/integration_mdm_test.go b/server/service/integration_mdm_test.go
index 3a798546d1..848905087c 100644
--- a/server/service/integration_mdm_test.go
+++ b/server/service/integration_mdm_test.go
@@ -2033,6 +2033,15 @@ func (s *integrationMDMTestSuite) TestDEPProfileAssignment() {
 	s.DoJSON("GET", "/api/latest/fleet/hosts?mdm_enrollment_status=pending", nil, http.StatusOK, &listHostsRes)
 	require.Len(t, listHostsRes.Hosts, len(devices))
 
+	// searching by display name works
+	listHostsRes = listHostsResponse{}
+	s.DoJSON("GET", fmt.Sprintf("/api/latest/fleet/hosts?query=%s", url.QueryEscape("MacBook Mini")), nil, http.StatusOK, &listHostsRes)
+	require.Len(t, listHostsRes.Hosts, 3)
+	for _, host := range listHostsRes.Hosts {
+		require.Equal(t, "MacBook Mini", host.HardwareModel)
+		require.Equal(t, host.DisplayName, fmt.Sprintf("MacBook Mini (%s)", host.HardwareSerial))
+	}
+
 	s.pushProvider.PushFunc = func(pushes []*mdm.Push) (map[string]*push.Response, error) {
 		return map[string]*push.Response{}, nil
 	}