diff --git a/services/search/pkg/bleve/backend_test.go b/services/search/pkg/bleve/backend_test.go
index 2ed8829dc6..d6d2d5cee4 100644
--- a/services/search/pkg/bleve/backend_test.go
+++ b/services/search/pkg/bleve/backend_test.go
@@ -125,6 +125,17 @@ var _ = Describe("Bleve", func() {
 				assertDocCount(rootResource.ID, "Tags:baz", 0)
 			})
 
+			It("finds files by tags case-insensitively", func() {
+				// exercises the []string/[]any sibling-lowercasing branch end-to-end.
+				parentResource.Document.Tags = []string{"Work", "Urgent"}
+				Expect(eng.Upsert(parentResource.ID, parentResource)).To(Succeed())
+
+				assertDocCount(rootResource.ID, "tag:work", 1)   // stored "Work", queried lower
+				assertDocCount(rootResource.ID, "tag:WORK", 1)   // queried upper
+				assertDocCount(rootResource.ID, "Tags:Urgent", 1)
+				assertDocCount(rootResource.ID, "tag:missing", 0)
+			})
+
 			It("finds files by size", func() {
 				parentResource.Document.Size = 12345
 				err := eng.Upsert(parentResource.ID, parentResource)
@@ -286,6 +297,13 @@ var _ = Describe("Bleve", func() {
 			It("matches case-insensitively", func() {
 				assertDocCount(rootResource.ID, `path:"./PARENT D!R"`, 3)
 			})
+
+			It("applies an AND filter to the folder itself, not only descendants", func() {
+				// regression: the folder-itself clause used to match unconditionally
+				// under an AND, so the parent leaked in despite the name filter.
+				matches := assertDocCount(rootResource.ID, `path:"./parent d!r" AND name:child.pdf`, 1)
+				Expect(matches[0].Entity.Name).To(Equal("child.pdf"))
+			})
 		})
 
 		Context("by content", func() {
@@ -296,6 +314,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Bleve", func() {
 				assertDocCount(rootResource.ID, "content:running", 1)
 				assertDocCount(rootResource.ID, "content:RUNNING", 1) // case-insensitive
 				assertDocCount(rootResource.ID, "content:run", 1)     // porter stemming
+				assertDocCount(rootResource.ID, "content:run*", 1)    // wildcard over the stemmed term
 				assertDocCount(rootResource.ID, "content:cat", 0)
 			})
 		})
diff --git a/services/search/pkg/opensearch/internal/convert/kql_transpile.go b/services/search/pkg/opensearch/internal/convert/kql_transpile.go
index 67f84606a9..374eefc624 100644
--- a/services/search/pkg/opensearch/internal/convert/kql_transpile.go
+++ b/services/search/pkg/opensearch/internal/convert/kql_transpile.go
@@ -107,15 +107,15 @@ func (t kqlOpensearchTranspiler) toBuilder(node ast.Node) (osu.Builder, error) {
 			value = strings.ToLower(value)
 		}
 
-		if query.FieldIsFulltext(node.Key) {
-			return osu.NewMatchPhraseQuery(field).Query(value), nil
-		}
-
 		isWildcard := strings.Contains(value, "*")
 		if isWildcard {
 			return osu.NewWildcardQuery(field).Value(value), nil
 		}
 
+		if query.FieldIsFulltext(node.Key) {
+			return osu.NewMatchPhraseQuery(field).Query(value), nil
+		}
+
 		totalTerms := strings.Split(value, " ")
 		isSingleTerm := len(totalTerms) == 1
 		isMultiTerm := len(totalTerms) >= 1
diff --git a/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler.go b/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler.go
index 7f79997755..2d080ba355 100644
--- a/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler.go
+++ b/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler.go
@@ -85,13 +85,14 @@ func walk(offset int, nodes []ast.Node) (bleveQuery.Query, int, error) {
 
 			var q bleveQuery.Query = bleveQuery.NewQueryStringQuery(k + ":" + v)
 			if searchQuery.FieldIsPath(n.Key) {
-				// bleve has no path hierarchy analyzer, unlike OpenSearch: match
-				// the folder itself and its descendants (`\/*`, a trailing
-				// wildcard on the value).
-				q = bleveQuery.NewDisjunctionQuery([]bleveQuery.Query{
-					q,
-					bleveQuery.NewQueryStringQuery(k + ":" + v + `\/*`),
-				})
+				// bleve has no path hierarchy analyzer, unlike OpenSearch: match the
+				// folder itself and its descendants (`\/*`). A BooleanQuery keeps
+				// this atomic; a DisjunctionQuery would be redistributed by an
+				// enclosing AND (mapBinary treats a left disjunction as an OR-chain).
+				bq := bleve.NewBooleanQuery()
+				bq.AddShould(q, bleveQuery.NewQueryStringQuery(k+":"+v+`\/*`))
+				bq.SetMinShould(1)
+				q = bq
 			}
 
 			if prev == nil {
diff --git a/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler_test.go b/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler_test.go
index c54e59f18b..d9a5854a68 100644
--- a/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler_test.go
+++ b/services/search/pkg/query/bleve/compiler_test.go
@@ -52,10 +52,16 @@ func Test_compile(t *testing.T) {
 					&ast.StringNode{Key: "path", Value: "/Foo"},
 				},
 			},
-			want: query.NewDisjunctionQuery([]query.Query{
-				query.NewQueryStringQuery(`Path_lowercase:\/foo`),
-				query.NewQueryStringQuery(`Path_lowercase:\/foo\/*`),
-			}),
+			// a BooleanQuery (should: exact OR descendants), not a DisjunctionQuery,
+			// so an enclosing AND does not redistribute the folder-itself clause.
+			want: func() query.Query {
+				bq := query.NewBooleanQuery(nil, []query.Query{
+					query.NewQueryStringQuery(`Path_lowercase:\/foo`),
+					query.NewQueryStringQuery(`Path_lowercase:\/foo\/*`),
+				}, nil)
+				bq.SetMinShould(1)
+				return query.NewConjunctionQuery([]query.Query{bq})
+			}(),
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
 		{