diff --git a/src/lyxfind.cpp b/src/lyxfind.cpp
index 50a2a5776d..f74da52f0c 100644
--- a/src/lyxfind.cpp
+++ b/src/lyxfind.cpp
@@ -154,7 +154,9 @@ bool findOne(BufferView * bv, docstring const & searchstr,
 	if (!searchAllowed(searchstr))
 		return false;
 
-	DocIterator cur = bv->cursor();
+	DocIterator cur = forward 
+		? bv->cursor().selectionEnd() 
+		: bv->cursor().selectionBegin();
 
 	MatchString const match(searchstr, case_sens, whole);
 
diff --git a/status.20x b/status.20x
index b1f0ba3773..d00dbe3aa0 100644
--- a/status.20x
+++ b/status.20x
@@ -130,6 +130,8 @@ What's new
 
 - Fix a few selection bugs in tabular (bugs 4981, 7988).
 
+- Fix confusing behavior in search when changing directions (bug 8543)
+
 - Fix several issues when using multicolumns/multirows and decimal alignment in
   table cells (bug 8285).