diff --git a/bash_completion b/bash_completion
index e6072eb9..f3a28fe4 100644
--- a/bash_completion
+++ b/bash_completion
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #   bash_completion - some programmable completion functions for bash 2.05b
 #
-#   $Id: bash_completion,v 1.570 2003/05/26 18:17:05 ianmacd Exp $
+#   $Id: bash_completion,v 1.571 2003/05/26 18:22:44 ianmacd Exp $
 #
 #   Copyright (C) Ian Macdonald <ian@caliban.org>
 #
@@ -1643,7 +1643,9 @@ _apt_cache()
 		     return 0
 		     ;;
 	     search)
-		     return 0
+		     if [[ "$cur" != -* ]]; then
+			    return 0
+		     fi
 		     ;;
 	esac