diff --git a/lib/shared/search-utils.js b/lib/shared/search-utils.js
--- a/lib/shared/search-utils.js
+++ b/lib/shared/search-utils.js
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
   searchUsers,
   searchUsersActionTypes,
 } from '../actions/user-actions.js';
+import { ENSCacheContext } from '../components/ens-cache-provider.react.js';
 import genesis from '../facts/genesis.js';
 import type {
   ChatMessageInfoItem,
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@
   useServerCall,
   useDispatchActionPromise,
 } from '../utils/action-utils.js';
+import { isValidENSName } from '../utils/ens-helpers.js';
 import { values } from '../utils/objects.js';
 import { useSelector } from '../utils/redux-utils.js';
 
@@ -278,12 +280,40 @@
   );
 }
 
+function useForwardLookupSearchText(originalText: string): string {
+  const cacheContext = React.useContext(ENSCacheContext);
+  const { ensCache } = cacheContext;
+  const lowercaseText = originalText.toLowerCase();
+
+  const [usernameToSearch, setUsernameToSearch] =
+    React.useState<string>(lowercaseText);
+
+  React.useEffect(() => {
+    (async () => {
+      if (!ensCache || !isValidENSName(lowercaseText)) {
+        setUsernameToSearch(lowercaseText);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      const address = await ensCache.getAddressForName(lowercaseText);
+      if (address) {
+        setUsernameToSearch(address);
+      } else {
+        setUsernameToSearch(lowercaseText);
+      }
+    })();
+  }, [ensCache, lowercaseText]);
+
+  return usernameToSearch;
+}
+
 function useSearchUsers(
   usernameInputText: string,
 ): $ReadOnlyArray<GlobalAccountUserInfo> {
   const currentUserID = useSelector(
     state => state.currentUserInfo && state.currentUserInfo.id,
   );
+  const forwardLookupSearchText = useForwardLookupSearchText(usernameInputText);
 
   const [serverSearchResults, setServerSearchResults] = React.useState<
     $ReadOnlyArray<GlobalAccountUserInfo>,
@@ -292,11 +322,11 @@
   const dispatchActionPromise = useDispatchActionPromise();
   React.useEffect(() => {
     const searchUsersPromise = (async () => {
-      if (usernameInputText.length === 0) {
+      if (forwardLookupSearchText.length === 0) {
         setServerSearchResults([]);
       } else {
         try {
-          const { userInfos } = await callSearchUsers(usernameInputText);
+          const { userInfos } = await callSearchUsers(forwardLookupSearchText);
           setServerSearchResults(
             userInfos.filter(({ id }) => id !== currentUserID),
           );
@@ -310,7 +340,7 @@
     callSearchUsers,
     currentUserID,
     dispatchActionPromise,
-    usernameInputText,
+    forwardLookupSearchText,
   ]);
 
   return serverSearchResults;
@@ -354,4 +384,5 @@
   useSearchMessages,
   useSearchUsers,
   filterChatMessageInfosForSearch,
+  useForwardLookupSearchText,
 };
diff --git a/lib/shared/thread-utils.js b/lib/shared/thread-utils.js
--- a/lib/shared/thread-utils.js
+++ b/lib/shared/thread-utils.js
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 import { extractUserMentionsFromText } from './mention-utils.js';
 import { getMessageTitle, isInvalidSidebarSource } from './message-utils.js';
 import { relationshipBlockedInEitherDirection } from './relationship-utils.js';
+import { useForwardLookupSearchText } from './search-utils.js';
 import threadWatcher from './thread-watcher.js';
 import {
   fetchMostRecentMessagesActionTypes,
@@ -1513,6 +1514,7 @@
 ): ThreadListSearchResult {
   const callSearchUsers = useServerCall(searchUserCall);
   const usersWithPersonalThread = useSelector(usersWithPersonalThreadSelector);
+  const forwardLookupSearchText = useForwardLookupSearchText(searchText);
   const searchUsers = React.useCallback(
     async (usernamePrefix: string) => {
       if (usernamePrefix.length === 0) {
@@ -1538,10 +1540,10 @@
     (async () => {
       const results = threadSearchIndex.getSearchResults(searchText);
       setThreadSearchResults(new Set<string>(results));
-      const usersResults = await searchUsers(searchText);
+      const usersResults = await searchUsers(forwardLookupSearchText);
       setUsersSearchResults(usersResults);
     })();
-  }, [searchText, threadSearchIndex, searchUsers]);
+  }, [searchText, forwardLookupSearchText, threadSearchIndex, searchUsers]);
 
   return { threadSearchResults, usersSearchResults };
 }