diff --git a/changes/issue-2450-fix-search-by-host b/changes/issue-2450-fix-search-by-host
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b3390e2bee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/issue-2450-fix-search-by-host
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+* Fix SearchHosts to match for one-char and two-chars queries.
diff --git a/server/datastore/mysql/fulltext.go b/server/datastore/mysql/fulltext.go
index a490941660..d9122d400a 100644
--- a/server/datastore/mysql/fulltext.go
+++ b/server/datastore/mysql/fulltext.go
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ import (
 
 var mysqlFTSSymbolRegexp = regexp.MustCompile("[-+]+")
 
+// queryMinLength returns true if the query argument is longer than a "short" word.
+// What defines a "short" word is MySQL's "ft_min_word_len" VARIABLE, generally set
+// to 4 by default in Fleet deployments.
+//
+// TODO(lucas): Remove this method on #2627.
 func queryMinLength(query string) bool {
 	return countLongestTerm(query) >= 3
 }
@@ -24,7 +29,11 @@ func countLongestTerm(query string) int {
 // transformQuery replaces occurrences of characters that are treated specially
 // by the MySQL FTS engine to try to make the search more user-friendly
 func transformQuery(query string) string {
+	return transformQueryWithSuffix(query, "*")
+}
+
+func transformQueryWithSuffix(query, suffix string) string {
 	return strings.TrimSpace(
 		mysqlFTSSymbolRegexp.ReplaceAllLiteralString(query, " "),
-	) + "*"
+	) + suffix
 }
diff --git a/server/datastore/mysql/hosts.go b/server/datastore/mysql/hosts.go
index 88db5feace..0bfa1f1d35 100644
--- a/server/datastore/mysql/hosts.go
+++ b/server/datastore/mysql/hosts.go
@@ -554,7 +554,6 @@ func (d *Datastore) EnrollHost(ctx context.Context, osqueryHostID, nodeKey strin
 				) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)
 			`
 			result, err := tx.ExecContext(ctx, sqlInsert, zeroTime, zeroTime, zeroTime, osqueryHostID, time.Now().UTC(), nodeKey, teamID)
-
 			if err != nil {
 				return errors.Wrap(err, "insert host")
 			}
@@ -578,7 +577,6 @@ func (d *Datastore) EnrollHost(ctx context.Context, osqueryHostID, nodeKey strin
 				WHERE osquery_host_id = ?
 			`
 			_, err := tx.ExecContext(ctx, sqlUpdate, nodeKey, teamID, osqueryHostID)
-
 			if err != nil {
 				return errors.Wrap(err, "update host")
 			}
@@ -599,7 +597,6 @@ func (d *Datastore) EnrollHost(ctx context.Context, osqueryHostID, nodeKey strin
 
 		return nil
 	})
-
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -667,104 +664,53 @@ func (d *Datastore) MarkHostsSeen(ctx context.Context, hostIDs []uint, t time.Ti
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (d *Datastore) searchHostsWithOmits(ctx context.Context, filter fleet.TeamFilter, query string, omit ...uint) ([]*fleet.Host, error) {
-	hostQuery := transformQuery(query)
-	ipQuery := `"` + query + `"`
+// SearchHosts performs a search on the hosts table using the following criteria:
+//	- Use the provided team filter.
+//	- Full-text search with the "query" argument (if query == "", then no fulltext matching is executed).
+// 	Full-text search is used even if "query" is a short or stopword.
+//	(what defines a short word is the "ft_min_word_len" VARIABLE, set to 4 by default in Fleet deployments).
+//	- An optional list of IDs to omit from the search.
+func (d *Datastore) SearchHosts(ctx context.Context, filter fleet.TeamFilter, query string, omit ...uint) ([]*fleet.Host, error) {
+	var sqlb strings.Builder
+	sqlb.WriteString("SELECT * FROM hosts WHERE")
 
-	sql := fmt.Sprintf(`
-			SELECT DISTINCT *
-			FROM hosts
-			WHERE
-			(
+	var args []interface{}
+	if len(query) > 0 {
+		sqlb.WriteString(` (
 				MATCH (hostname, uuid) AGAINST (? IN BOOLEAN MODE)
 				OR MATCH (primary_ip, primary_mac) AGAINST (? IN BOOLEAN MODE)
-			)
-			AND id NOT IN (?) AND %s
-			LIMIT 10
-		`, d.whereFilterHostsByTeams(filter, "hosts"),
-	)
-
-	sql, args, err := sqlx.In(sql, hostQuery, ipQuery, omit)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "searching hosts")
+			) AND`)
+		// Transform query argument and append the truncation operator "*" for MATCH.
+		// From Oracle docs: "If a word is specified with the truncation operator, it is not
+		// stripped from a boolean query, even if it is too short or a stopword."
+		hostQuery := transformQueryWithSuffix(query, "*")
+		// Needs quotes to avoid each "." marking a word boundary.
+		// TODO(lucas): Currently matching the primary_mac doesn't work, see #1959.
+		ipQuery := `"` + query + `"`
+		args = append(args, hostQuery, ipQuery)
 	}
-	sql = d.reader.Rebind(sql)
-
-	hosts := []*fleet.Host{}
-
-	err = sqlx.SelectContext(ctx, d.reader, &hosts, sql, args...)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "searching hosts rebound")
-	}
-
-	return hosts, nil
-}
-
-func (d *Datastore) searchHostsDefault(ctx context.Context, filter fleet.TeamFilter, omit ...uint) ([]*fleet.Host, error) {
-	sql := fmt.Sprintf(`
-			SELECT * FROM hosts
-			WHERE id NOT in (?) AND %s
-			ORDER BY seen_time DESC
-			LIMIT 5
-		`, d.whereFilterHostsByTeams(filter, "hosts"),
-	)
-
 	var in interface{}
-	{
-		// use -1 if there are no values to omit.
-		// Avoids empty args error for `sqlx.In`
-		in = omit
-		if len(omit) == 0 {
-			in = -1
-		}
+	// use -1 if there are no values to omit.
+	// Avoids empty args error for `sqlx.In`
+	in = omit
+	if len(omit) == 0 {
+		in = -1
 	}
+	args = append(args, in)
+	sqlb.WriteString(" id NOT IN (?) AND ")
+	sqlb.WriteString(d.whereFilterHostsByTeams(filter, "hosts"))
+	sqlb.WriteString(` ORDER BY seen_time DESC LIMIT 10`)
 
-	var hosts []*fleet.Host
-	sql, args, err := sqlx.In(sql, in)
+	sql, args, err := sqlx.In(sqlb.String(), args...)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "searching default hosts")
 	}
 	sql = d.reader.Rebind(sql)
-	err = sqlx.SelectContext(ctx, d.reader, &hosts, sql, args...)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "searching default hosts rebound")
-	}
-	return hosts, nil
-}
-
-// SearchHosts find hosts by query containing an IP address, a host name or UUID.
-// Optionally pass a list of IDs to omit from the search
-func (d *Datastore) SearchHosts(ctx context.Context, filter fleet.TeamFilter, query string, omit ...uint) ([]*fleet.Host, error) {
-	hostQuery := transformQuery(query)
-	if !queryMinLength(hostQuery) {
-		return d.searchHostsDefault(ctx, filter, omit...)
-	}
-	if len(omit) > 0 {
-		return d.searchHostsWithOmits(ctx, filter, query, omit...)
-	}
-
-	// Needs quotes to avoid each . marking a word boundary
-	ipQuery := `"` + query + `"`
-
-	sql := fmt.Sprintf(`
-			SELECT DISTINCT *
-			FROM hosts
-			WHERE
-			(
-				MATCH (hostname, uuid) AGAINST (? IN BOOLEAN MODE)
-				OR MATCH (primary_ip, primary_mac) AGAINST (? IN BOOLEAN MODE)
-			) AND %s
-			LIMIT 10
-		`, d.whereFilterHostsByTeams(filter, "hosts"),
-	)
-
 	hosts := []*fleet.Host{}
-	if err := sqlx.SelectContext(ctx, d.reader, &hosts, sql, hostQuery, ipQuery); err != nil {
+	if err := sqlx.SelectContext(ctx, d.reader, &hosts, sql, args...); err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "searching hosts")
 	}
-
 	return hosts, nil
-
 }
 
 func (d *Datastore) HostIDsByName(ctx context.Context, filter fleet.TeamFilter, hostnames []string) ([]uint, error) {
@@ -789,7 +735,6 @@ func (d *Datastore) HostIDsByName(ctx context.Context, filter fleet.TeamFilter,
 	}
 
 	return hostIDs, nil
-
 }
 
 func (d *Datastore) HostByIdentifier(ctx context.Context, identifier string) (*fleet.Host, error) {
diff --git a/server/datastore/mysql/hosts_test.go b/server/datastore/mysql/hosts_test.go
index 65c16be215..1986b801b8 100644
--- a/server/datastore/mysql/hosts_test.go
+++ b/server/datastore/mysql/hosts_test.go
@@ -24,22 +24,26 @@ import (
 var enrollTests = []struct {
 	uuid, hostname, platform, nodeKey string
 }{
-	0: {uuid: "6D14C88F-8ECF-48D5-9197-777647BF6B26",
+	0: {
+		uuid:     "6D14C88F-8ECF-48D5-9197-777647BF6B26",
 		hostname: "web.fleet.co",
 		platform: "linux",
 		nodeKey:  "key0",
 	},
-	1: {uuid: "B998C0EB-38CE-43B1-A743-FBD7A5C9513B",
+	1: {
+		uuid:     "B998C0EB-38CE-43B1-A743-FBD7A5C9513B",
 		hostname: "mail.fleet.co",
 		platform: "linux",
 		nodeKey:  "key1",
 	},
-	2: {uuid: "008F0688-5311-4C59-86EE-00C2D6FC3EC2",
+	2: {
+		uuid:     "008F0688-5311-4C59-86EE-00C2D6FC3EC2",
 		hostname: "home.fleet.co",
 		platform: "darwin",
 		nodeKey:  "key2",
 	},
-	3: {uuid: "uuid123",
+	3: {
+		uuid:     "uuid123",
 		hostname: "fakehostname",
 		platform: "darwin",
 		nodeKey:  "key3",
@@ -848,6 +852,26 @@ func testHostsSearch(t *testing.T, ds *Datastore) {
 	hits, err = ds.SearchHosts(context.Background(), filter, "99.100.101", h3.ID)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	assert.Equal(t, 1, len(hits))
+
+	hits, err = ds.SearchHosts(context.Background(), filter, "f")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, 2, len(hits))
+
+	hits, err = ds.SearchHosts(context.Background(), filter, "f", h3.ID)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, 1, len(hits))
+
+	hits, err = ds.SearchHosts(context.Background(), filter, "fx")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, 0, len(hits))
+
+	hits, err = ds.SearchHosts(context.Background(), filter, "x")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, 0, len(hits))
+
+	hits, err = ds.SearchHosts(context.Background(), filter, "x", h3.ID)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, 0, len(hits))
 }
 
 func testHostsSearchLimit(t *testing.T, ds *Datastore) {