diff --git a/src/vs/base/browser/ui/checkbox/checkbox.ts b/src/vs/base/browser/ui/checkbox/checkbox.ts
index ec8942b2f58..6b2ab1a64f6 100644
--- a/src/vs/base/browser/ui/checkbox/checkbox.ts
+++ b/src/vs/base/browser/ui/checkbox/checkbox.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ export interface ICheckboxOpts {
 	actionClassName: string;
 	title: string;
 	isChecked: boolean;
-	onChange: () => void;
+	onChange: (viaKeyboard: boolean) => void;
 	onKeyDown?: (e: StandardKeyboardEvent) => void;
 }
 
@@ -43,14 +43,14 @@ export class Checkbox extends Widget {
 
 		this.onclick(this.domNode, (ev) => {
 			this.checked = !this._checked;
-			this._opts.onChange();
+			this._opts.onChange(false);
 			ev.preventDefault();
 		});
 
 		this.onkeydown(this.domNode, (keyboardEvent) => {
 			if (keyboardEvent.keyCode === KeyCode.Space || keyboardEvent.keyCode === KeyCode.Enter) {
 				this.checked = !this._checked;
-				this._opts.onChange();
+				this._opts.onChange(true);
 				keyboardEvent.preventDefault();
 				return;
 			}
diff --git a/src/vs/base/browser/ui/findinput/findInput.ts b/src/vs/base/browser/ui/findinput/findInput.ts
index 1b149b76490..e204dc1825a 100644
--- a/src/vs/base/browser/ui/findinput/findInput.ts
+++ b/src/vs/base/browser/ui/findinput/findInput.ts
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ export class FindInput extends Widget {
 	public domNode: HTMLElement;
 	public inputBox:InputBox;
 
-	private _onDidOptionChange = this._register(new Emitter<void>());
-	public onDidOptionChange: Event<void> = this._onDidOptionChange.event;
+	private _onDidOptionChange = this._register(new Emitter<boolean>());
+	public onDidOptionChange: Event<boolean /* via keyboard */> = this._onDidOptionChange.event;
 
 	private _onKeyDown = this._register(new Emitter<StandardKeyboardEvent>());
 	public onKeyDown: Event<StandardKeyboardEvent> = this._onKeyDown.event;
@@ -212,9 +212,11 @@ export class FindInput extends Widget {
 			actionClassName: 'regex',
 			title: NLS_REGEX_CHECKBOX_LABEL + appendRegexLabel,
 			isChecked: false,
-			onChange: () => {
-				this._onDidOptionChange.fire();
-				this.inputBox.focus();
+			onChange: (viaKeyboard) => {
+				this._onDidOptionChange.fire(viaKeyboard);
+				if (!viaKeyboard) {
+					this.inputBox.focus();
+				}
 				this.setInputWidth();
 				this.validate();
 			}
@@ -223,9 +225,11 @@ export class FindInput extends Widget {
 			actionClassName: 'whole-word',
 			title: NLS_WHOLE_WORD_CHECKBOX_LABEL + appendWholeWordsLabel,
 			isChecked: false,
-			onChange: () => {
-				this._onDidOptionChange.fire();
-				this.inputBox.focus();
+			onChange: (viaKeyboard) => {
+				this._onDidOptionChange.fire(viaKeyboard);
+				if (!viaKeyboard) {
+					this.inputBox.focus();
+				}
 				this.setInputWidth();
 				this.validate();
 			}
@@ -234,9 +238,11 @@ export class FindInput extends Widget {
 			actionClassName: 'case-sensitive',
 			title: NLS_CASE_SENSITIVE_CHECKBOX_LABEL + appendCaseSensitiveLabel,
 			isChecked: false,
-			onChange: () => {
-				this._onDidOptionChange.fire();
-				this.inputBox.focus();
+			onChange: (viaKeyboard) => {
+				this._onDidOptionChange.fire(viaKeyboard);
+				if (!viaKeyboard) {
+					this.inputBox.focus();
+				}
 				this.setInputWidth();
 				this.validate();
 			},
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/parts/search/browser/searchViewlet.ts b/src/vs/workbench/parts/search/browser/searchViewlet.ts
index ed1996bfb86..42a92ccb22c 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/parts/search/browser/searchViewlet.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/parts/search/browser/searchViewlet.ts
@@ -573,9 +573,11 @@ class PatternInput {
 			actionClassName: 'pattern',
 			title: nls.localize('patternDescription', "Use Glob Patterns"),
 			isChecked: false,
-			onChange: () => {
+			onChange: (viaKeyboard) => {
 				this.onOptionChange(null);
-				this.inputBox.focus();
+				if (!viaKeyboard) {
+					this.inputBox.focus();
+				}
 				this.setInputWidth();
 
 				if (this.isGlobPattern()) {
@@ -772,8 +774,8 @@ export class SearchViewlet extends Viewlet {
 					}
 				}
 			});
-			this.findInput.onDidOptionChange(() => {
-				this.onQueryChanged(true);
+			this.findInput.onDidOptionChange((viaKeyboard) => {
+				this.onQueryChanged(true, viaKeyboard);
 			});
 			this.findInput.setValue(contentPattern);
 			this.findInput.setRegex(isRegex);
@@ -1099,7 +1101,7 @@ export class SearchViewlet extends Viewlet {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public onQueryChanged(rerunQuery: boolean): void {
+	public onQueryChanged(rerunQuery: boolean, preserveFocus?: boolean): void {
 
 		let isRegex = this.findInput.getRegex(),
 			isWholeWords = this.findInput.getWholeWords(),
@@ -1167,7 +1169,9 @@ export class SearchViewlet extends Viewlet {
 		this.queryBuilder.text(content, options)
 			.then(query => this.onQueryTriggered(query, patternExcludes, patternIncludes), errors.onUnexpectedError);
 
-		this.findInput.focus(); // focus back to input field
+		if (!preserveFocus) {
+			this.findInput.focus(); // focus back to input field
+		}
 	}
 
 	private onQueryTriggered(query: ISearchQuery, excludePattern: string, includePattern: string): void {