diff --git a/installer/data/mysql/atomicupdate/bug_28884.pl b/installer/data/mysql/atomicupdate/bug_28884.pl
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..a326c43f95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/installer/data/mysql/atomicupdate/bug_28884.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+use Modern::Perl;
+use Koha::Installer::Output qw(say_warning say_success say_info);
+
+return {
+    bug_number  => "28884",
+    description => "Add 'ElasticsearchEscapeCharacters' and 'OpacElasticsearchEscapeCharacters' system preferences",
+    up          => sub {
+        my ($args) = @_;
+        my ( $dbh, $out ) = @$args{qw(dbh out)};
+
+        $dbh->do(
+            q{ INSERT IGNORE INTO systempreferences ( `variable`, `value` )
+        VALUES ('ElasticsearchEscapeCharacters', '')}
+        );
+
+        say $out "Added new system preference 'ElasticsearchEscapeCharacters'";
+
+        $dbh->do(
+            q{ INSERT IGNORE INTO systempreferences ( `variable`, `value` )
+        VALUES ('OpacElasticsearchEscapeCharacters', '')}
+        );
+
+        say $out "Added new system preference 'OpacElasticsearchEscapeCharacters'";
+    },
+};
diff --git a/installer/data/mysql/mandatory/sysprefs.sql b/installer/data/mysql/mandatory/sysprefs.sql
index c27a295968..60e9404ee5 100644
--- a/installer/data/mysql/mandatory/sysprefs.sql
+++ b/installer/data/mysql/mandatory/sysprefs.sql
@@ -242,6 +242,7 @@ INSERT INTO systempreferences ( `variable`, `value` ) VALUES
 ('ElasticsearchBoostFieldMatch', '0'),
 ('ElasticsearchBoostFieldMatchAmount', '0'),
 ('ElasticsearchCrossFields', '1'),
+('ElasticsearchEscapeCharacters', ''),
 ('ElasticsearchIndexStatus_authorities', '0'),
 ('ElasticsearchIndexStatus_biblios', '0'),
 ('ElasticsearchMARCFormat', 'base64ISO2709'),
@@ -513,6 +514,7 @@ INSERT INTO systempreferences ( `variable`, `value` ) VALUES
 ('OPACdidyoumean',''),
 ('OPACDisableSendList','0'),
 ('OPACDisplay856uAsImage','OFF'),
+('OpacElasticsearchEscapeCharacters', ''),
 ('OpacExportOptions','bibtex,dc,marcxml,marc8,utf8,marcstd,mods,ris,isbd'),
 ('OPACFallback', 'prog'),
 ('OpacFavicon',''),
diff --git a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/preferences/searching.pref b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/preferences/searching.pref
index 84c718d7b0..c73d2579f9 100644
--- a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/preferences/searching.pref
+++ b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/preferences/searching.pref
@@ -133,6 +133,14 @@ Searching:
             - "<pre>ccode: [REF,ARC]</pre><br/>  - would mark all REF and ARC collections (Reference and Archives) items as unavailable in Z3950 results.<br/><br/>"
             - "You can define multiple keys and values, items meeting ANY of the criteria will be marked unavailable:<br/><br/>"
             - "<pre>itype: [REF]<br/>holdingbranch: [REPAIR]</pre><br/>  - would mark all reference items AND items at the REPAIR branch as unavailable."
+        -
+            - "The following characters will always be escaped in intranet searches (with Elasticsearch):"
+            - pref: ElasticsearchEscapeCharacters
+              class: short
+            - ".</br>"
+            - "The following characters will always be escaped in OPAC searches (with Elasticsearch):"
+            - pref: OpacElasticsearchEscapeCharacters
+              class: short
     Search form:
         -
             - pref: LoadSearchHistoryToTheFirstLoggedUser