diff --git a/vmware_nsxlib/tests/unit/v3/test_resources.py b/vmware_nsxlib/tests/unit/v3/test_resources.py
index 5a22ed75..af7cdbf4 100644
--- a/vmware_nsxlib/tests/unit/v3/test_resources.py
+++ b/vmware_nsxlib/tests/unit/v3/test_resources.py
@@ -796,7 +796,7 @@ class TestNsxSearch(nsxlib_testcase.NsxClientTestCase):
             res_type = 'LogicalPort'
             query = self.nsxlib._build_query(tags=user_tags)
             # Add resource_type to the query
-            query = "%s AND %s" % (res_type, query)
+            query = "resource_type:%s AND %s" % (res_type, query)
             self.nsxlib.search_by_tags(tags=user_tags, resource_type=res_type)
             search.assert_called_with('search?query=%s' % query)
 
diff --git a/vmware_nsxlib/v3/__init__.py b/vmware_nsxlib/v3/__init__.py
index 1e9c69b0..82dcc927 100644
--- a/vmware_nsxlib/v3/__init__.py
+++ b/vmware_nsxlib/v3/__init__.py
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ class NsxLib(object):
             raise exceptions.NsxSearchInvalidQuery(reason=reason)
         # Query will return nothing if the same scope is repeated.
         query_tags = self._build_query(tags)
-        query = resource_type
+        query = 'resource_type:%s' % resource_type if resource_type else None
         if query:
             query += " AND %s" % query_tags
         else: