diff --git a/message/lib.php b/message/lib.php
index ac52cea5d80..546e62afc09 100644
--- a/message/lib.php
+++ b/message/lib.php
@@ -130,15 +130,11 @@ function message_print_contact_selector($countunreadtotal, $viewing, $user1, $us
         }
     }
 
-    // Only show the search button if we're viewing our own messages.
-    // Search isn't currently able to deal with user A wanting to search user B's messages.
-    if ($showactionlinks) {
+    // Only show the search button if we're viewing our own contacts.
+    if ($viewing == MESSAGE_VIEW_CONTACTS && $user2 == null) {
         echo html_writer::start_tag('form', array('action' => 'index.php','method' => 'GET'));
         echo html_writer::start_tag('fieldset');
         $managebuttonclass = 'visible';
-        if ($viewing == MESSAGE_VIEW_SEARCH) {
-            $managebuttonclass = 'hiddenelement';
-        }
         $strmanagecontacts = get_string('search','message');
         echo html_writer::empty_tag('input', array('type' => 'hidden','name' => 'viewing','value' => MESSAGE_VIEW_SEARCH));
         echo html_writer::empty_tag('input', array('type' => 'submit','value' => $strmanagecontacts,'class' => $managebuttonclass));