diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/search/browser/patternInputWidget.ts b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/search/browser/patternInputWidget.ts
index db21252644c4aa44df59028cb0bf6ffdd8726064..5cd836f67db651b2040008176893363a9d6e13f4 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/search/browser/patternInputWidget.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/search/browser/patternInputWidget.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ import { IThemeService } from 'vs/platform/theme/common/themeService';
 import { attachInputBoxStyler, attachCheckboxStyler } from 'vs/platform/theme/common/styler';
 import { ContextScopedHistoryInputBox } from 'vs/platform/browser/contextScopedHistoryWidget';
 import { IContextKeyService } from 'vs/platform/contextkey/common/contextkey';
+import { IConfigurationService } from 'vs/platform/configuration/common/configuration';
+import { ISearchConfigurationProperties } from 'vs/workbench/services/search/common/search';
+import { Delayer } from 'vs/base/common/async';
 
 export interface IOptions {
 	placeholder?: string;
@@ -23,6 +26,8 @@ export interface IOptions {
 	validation?: IInputValidator;
 	ariaLabel?: string;
 	history?: string[];
+	submitOnType?: boolean;
+	submitOnTypeDelay?: number;
 }
 
 export class PatternInputWidget extends Widget {
@@ -38,14 +43,17 @@ export class PatternInputWidget extends Widget {
 	private domNode!: HTMLElement;
 	protected inputBox!: HistoryInputBox;
 
-	private _onSubmit = this._register(new Emitter<boolean>());
-	onSubmit: CommonEvent<boolean> = this._onSubmit.event;
+	private _onSubmit = this._register(new Emitter<void>());
+	onSubmit: CommonEvent<void> = this._onSubmit.event;
 
-	private _onCancel = this._register(new Emitter<boolean>());
-	onCancel: CommonEvent<boolean> = this._onCancel.event;
+	private _onCancel = this._register(new Emitter<void>());
+	onCancel: CommonEvent<void> = this._onCancel.event;
+
+	private searchOnTypeDelayer: Delayer<void>;
 
 	constructor(parent: HTMLElement, private contextViewProvider: IContextViewProvider, options: IOptions = Object.create(null),
 		@IThemeService protected themeService: IThemeService,
+		@IConfigurationService private configurationService: IConfigurationService,
 		@IContextKeyService private readonly contextKeyService: IContextKeyService
 	) {
 		super();
@@ -53,6 +61,8 @@ export class PatternInputWidget extends Widget {
 		this.placeholder = options.placeholder || '';
 		this.ariaLabel = options.ariaLabel || nls.localize('defaultLabel', "input");
 
+		this._register(this.searchOnTypeDelayer = new Delayer(this.searchConfig.searchOnTypeDebouncePeriod));
+
 		this.render(options);
 
 		parent.appendChild(this.domNode);
@@ -139,6 +149,12 @@ export class PatternInputWidget extends Widget {
 		this._register(attachInputBoxStyler(this.inputBox, this.themeService));
 		this.inputFocusTracker = dom.trackFocus(this.inputBox.inputElement);
 		this.onkeyup(this.inputBox.inputElement, (keyboardEvent) => this.onInputKeyUp(keyboardEvent));
+		this._register(this.inputBox.onDidChange(() => {
+			if (this.searchConfig.searchOnType) {
+				this._onCancel.fire();
+				this.searchOnTypeDelayer.trigger(() => this._onSubmit.fire(), this.searchConfig.searchOnTypeDebouncePeriod);
+			}
+		}));
 
 		const controls = document.createElement('div');
 		controls.className = 'controls';
@@ -154,15 +170,19 @@ export class PatternInputWidget extends Widget {
 	private onInputKeyUp(keyboardEvent: IKeyboardEvent) {
 		switch (keyboardEvent.keyCode) {
 			case KeyCode.Enter:
-				this._onSubmit.fire(false);
+				this._onSubmit.fire();
 				return;
 			case KeyCode.Escape:
-				this._onCancel.fire(false);
+				this._onCancel.fire();
 				return;
 			default:
 				return;
 		}
 	}
+
+	get searchConfig() {
+		return this.configurationService.getValue<ISearchConfigurationProperties>('search');
+	}
 }
 
 export class ExcludePatternInputWidget extends PatternInputWidget {
@@ -172,9 +192,10 @@ export class ExcludePatternInputWidget extends PatternInputWidget {
 
 	constructor(parent: HTMLElement, contextViewProvider: IContextViewProvider, options: IOptions = Object.create(null),
 		@IThemeService themeService: IThemeService,
+		@IConfigurationService configurationService: IConfigurationService,
 		@IContextKeyService contextKeyService: IContextKeyService
 	) {
-		super(parent, contextViewProvider, options, themeService, contextKeyService);
+		super(parent, contextViewProvider, options, themeService, configurationService, contextKeyService);
 	}
 
 	private useExcludesAndIgnoreFilesBox!: Checkbox;
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/search/browser/searchView.ts b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/search/browser/searchView.ts
index d64839689de5b36a0e4bbc10fed7e36f3f9c401c..101fe76326bf71d4134f6947ef96f57877c7a868 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/search/browser/searchView.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/search/browser/searchView.ts
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ export class SearchView extends ViewletPanel {
 		this.inputPatternIncludes.setValue(patternIncludes);
 
 		this.inputPatternIncludes.onSubmit(() => this.onQueryChanged(true));
-		this.inputPatternIncludes.onCancel(() => this.viewModel.cancelSearch()); // Cancel search without focusing the search widget
+		this.inputPatternIncludes.onCancel(() => this.cancelSearch(false));
 		this.trackInputBox(this.inputPatternIncludes.inputFocusTracker, this.inputPatternIncludesFocused);
 
 		// excludes list
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ export class SearchView extends ViewletPanel {
 		this.inputPatternExcludes.setUseExcludesAndIgnoreFiles(useExcludesAndIgnoreFiles);
 
 		this.inputPatternExcludes.onSubmit(() => this.onQueryChanged(true));
-		this.inputPatternExcludes.onCancel(() => this.viewModel.cancelSearch()); // Cancel search without focusing the search widget
+		this.inputPatternExcludes.onCancel(() => this.cancelSearch(false));
 		this.inputPatternExcludes.onChangeIgnoreBox(() => this.onQueryChanged(true));
 		this.trackInputBox(this.inputPatternExcludes.inputFocusTracker, this.inputPatternExclusionsFocused);
 
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/search/browser/searchWidget.ts b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/search/browser/searchWidget.ts
index 485477fdd5edce023741c458ea6242a3610244b5..5aa020a689ecb0eee7dfbbfc8bb3ff0014e379b2 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/search/browser/searchWidget.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/search/browser/searchWidget.ts
@@ -448,6 +448,11 @@ export class SearchWidget extends Widget {
 	private onSearchInputChanged(): void {
 		this.searchInput.clearMessage();
 		this.setReplaceAllActionState(false);
+
+		if (this.searchConfiguration.searchOnType) {
+			this._onSearchCancel.fire({ focus: false });
+			this._searchDelayer.trigger((() => this.submitSearch()), this.searchConfiguration.searchOnTypeDebouncePeriod);
+		}
 	}
 
 	private onSearchInputKeyDown(keyboardEvent: IKeyboardEvent) {
@@ -482,18 +487,6 @@ export class SearchWidget extends Widget {
 		else if (keyboardEvent.equals(KeyCode.DownArrow)) {
 			stopPropagationForMultiLineDownwards(keyboardEvent, this.searchInput.getValue(), this.searchInput.domNode.querySelector('textarea'));
 		}
-
-		if ((keyboardEvent.browserEvent.key.length === 1 && !(keyboardEvent.ctrlKey || keyboardEvent.metaKey) ||
-			keyboardEvent.equals(KeyCode.Backspace) ||
-			keyboardEvent.equals(KeyCode.UpArrow) ||
-			keyboardEvent.equals(KeyCode.DownArrow))
-			&& this.searchConfiguration.searchOnType) {
-
-			// Check to see if this input changes the query, being either a printable key (`key` is length 1, and not modified), or backspace, or history scroll
-			// If so, trigger a new search eventually, and preemptively cancel the old one as it's results will soon be discarded anyways.
-			this._onSearchCancel.fire({ focus: false });
-			this._searchDelayer.trigger((() => this.submitSearch()));
-		}
 	}
 
 	private onCaseSensitiveKeyDown(keyboardEvent: IKeyboardEvent) {