diff --git a/lisp/ChangeLog b/lisp/ChangeLog
index fdbd28b1b6a..d8378ef9838 100644
--- a/lisp/ChangeLog
+++ b/lisp/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2012-01-28  Chong Yidong  <cyd@gnu.org>
+
+	* cus-edit.el (custom-buffer-create-internal): Fix search button
+	action (Bug#10542).
+
 2012-01-27  Eduard Wiebe  <usenet@pusto.de>
 
 	* dired.el (dired-mark-files-regexp):
diff --git a/lisp/cus-edit.el b/lisp/cus-edit.el
index 419ab88056a..dc8abb68bb8 100644
--- a/lisp/cus-edit.el
+++ b/lisp/cus-edit.el
@@ -1637,7 +1637,7 @@ Otherwise use brackets."
 	 :tag " Search "
 	 :help-echo echo :action
 	 (lambda (widget &optional _event)
-	   (customize-apropos (widget-value (widget-get widget :parent)))))
+	   (customize-apropos (split-string (widget-value (widget-get widget :parent))))))
 	(widget-insert "\n")))
 
     ;; The custom command buttons are also in the toolbar, so for a