diff --git a/src/opnsense/mvc/app/library/OPNsense/Base/UIModelGrid.php b/src/opnsense/mvc/app/library/OPNsense/Base/UIModelGrid.php
index 08661139d9..7ac4876b62 100644
--- a/src/opnsense/mvc/app/library/OPNsense/Base/UIModelGrid.php
+++ b/src/opnsense/mvc/app/library/OPNsense/Base/UIModelGrid.php
@@ -123,20 +123,7 @@ class UIModelGrid
 
                 // parse rows, because we may need to convert some (list) items we need to know the actual content
                 // before searching.
-                $row = [];
-                $row['uuid'] = $record->getAttributes()['uuid'];
-                $content = $record->getNodeContent();
-                foreach ($fields as $fieldname) {
-                    if (array_key_exists($fieldname, $content)) {
-                        $row[$fieldname] = $content[$fieldname];
-
-                        $descr = '$' . $fieldname;
-                        if (array_key_exists($descr, $content) && $content[$descr] !== $content[$fieldname]) {
-                            // descriptive/translated value available
-                            $row[$descr] = $content[$descr];
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
+                $row = array_merge(['uuid' => $record->getAttributes()['uuid']], $record->getNodeContent());
 
                 // if a search phrase is provided, use it to search in all requested fields
                 $search_clauses = preg_split('/\s+/', $searchPhrase);
@@ -144,10 +131,8 @@ class UIModelGrid
                     foreach ($search_clauses as $clause) {
                         $searchFound = false;
                         foreach ($fields as $fieldname) {
-                            if (
-                                isset($row[$fieldname]) &&
-                                strpos(strtolower($row[$fieldname]), strtolower($clause)) !== false
-                            ) {
+                            $item = $row['$' . $fieldname] ?? $row[$fieldname] ?? ''; /* prefer search by description */
+                            if (!empty($item) && strpos(strtolower($item), strtolower($clause)) !== false) {
                                 $searchFound = true;
                             }
                         }
diff --git a/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Base/FieldTypes/BaseField.php b/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Base/FieldTypes/BaseField.php
index be4ee8d7fd..6be6169ee7 100644
--- a/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Base/FieldTypes/BaseField.php
+++ b/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Base/FieldTypes/BaseField.php
@@ -720,8 +720,9 @@ abstract class BaseField
     }
 
     /**
-     * get nodes as array structure using getValue() and getDescription() as leaves, the latter prefixed with a
-     * dollar sign ($) as these are impossible to exist in our xml structure. (eg field, $field)
+     * get nodes as array structure using getValue() and (optionally) getDescription() as leaves,
+     * the latter prefixed with a dollar sign ($) as these are impossible to exist in our xml structure.
+     * (eg field, $field)
      * @return array
      */
     public function getNodeContent()
@@ -732,7 +733,10 @@ abstract class BaseField
                 $result[$key] = $node->getNodeContent();
             } else {
                 $result[$key] = $node->getValue();
-                $result['$' . $key] = $node->getDescription();
+                $descr = $node->getDescription();
+                if ($descr != $result[$key]) {
+                    $result['$' . $key] = $descr;
+                }
             }
         }
         return $result;
diff --git a/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Base/FieldTypes/ModelRelationField.php b/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Base/FieldTypes/ModelRelationField.php
index 949d975c84..c4a0071a07 100644
--- a/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Base/FieldTypes/ModelRelationField.php
+++ b/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Base/FieldTypes/ModelRelationField.php
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ class ModelRelationField extends BaseListField
                 foreach ($searchItems as $uuid => $node) {
                     $descriptions = [];
                     foreach ($displayKeys as $displayKey) {
-                        $descriptions[] = $node['$' . $displayKey] ?? '';
+                        $descriptions[] = $node['$' . $displayKey] ?? $node[$displayKey] ?? '';
                     }
                     if (isset($modelData['filters'])) {
                         foreach ($modelData['filters'] as $filterKey => $filterValue) {