diff --git a/C4/Search.pm b/C4/Search.pm
index b84a528b94..5f15f964de 100644
--- a/C4/Search.pm
+++ b/C4/Search.pm
@@ -722,10 +722,6 @@ sub buildQuery {
 
 				$weight_fields = 0 if $operands[$i] =~ /(:|=)/;
                 my $operand = $operands[$i];
-
-				my $sanatized_operand = $operands[$i];
-				$sanatized_operand =~ s/://g;
-
                 my $index   = $indexes[$i];
 
                 # if there's no index, don't use one, it will throw a CCL error
@@ -794,7 +790,7 @@ sub buildQuery {
                         $query .= " $operand";
 						$query_cgi .="&op=$operators[$i-1]";
 						$query_cgi .="&idx=$index" if $index;
-						$query_cgi .="&q=$sanatized_operand" if $sanatized_operand;
+						$query_cgi .="&q=$operands[$i]" if $operands[$i];
 						$query_search_desc .=" $operators[$i-1] $index_plus $operands[$i]";
                     }
 
@@ -804,7 +800,7 @@ sub buildQuery {
                         $query .= "$index_plus " unless $indexes_set;
                         $query .= "$operand";
 						$query_cgi .="&op=and&idx=$index" if $index;
-						$query_cgi .="&q=$sanatized_operand" if $sanatized_operand;
+						$query_cgi .="&q=$operands[$i]" if $operands[$i];
                         $query_search_desc .= " and $index_plus $operands[$i]";
                     }
                 }
@@ -815,7 +811,7 @@ sub buildQuery {
 					$query .= $operand;
 					$query_search_desc .= " $index_plus $operands[$i]";
 					$query_cgi.="&idx=$index" if $index;
-					$query_cgi.="&q=$sanatized_operand" if $sanatized_operand;
+					$query_cgi.="&q=$operands[$i]" if $operands[$i];
 
                     $previous_operand = 1;
                 }