diff --git a/django/contrib/admin/views/main.py b/django/contrib/admin/views/main.py
index 089cc5381a..11a7b9ba47 100644
--- a/django/contrib/admin/views/main.py
+++ b/django/contrib/admin/views/main.py
@@ -216,19 +216,17 @@ class ChangeList(object):
                         break
         lookup_params['order_by'] = ((order_type == 'desc' and '-' or '') + lookup_order_field,)
         if lookup_opts.admin.search_fields and query:
-            or_queries = []
+            complex_queries = []
             for bit in query.split():
-                or_query = []
+                or_queries = []
                 for field_name in lookup_opts.admin.search_fields:
-                    or_query.append(('%s__icontains' % field_name, bit))
-                or_queries.append(or_query)
-            lookup_params['_or'] = or_queries
-
+                    or_queries.append(meta.Q(**{'%s__icontains' % field_name: bit}))
+                complex_queries.append(reduce(operator.or_, or_queries))
+            lookup_params['complex'] = reduce(operator.and_, complex_queries)
         if opts.one_to_one_field:
             lookup_params.update(opts.one_to_one_field.rel.limit_choices_to)
         self.lookup_params = lookup_params
 
-
 def change_list(request, app_label, module_name):
     try:
         cl = ChangeList(request, app_label, module_name)
diff --git a/django/core/meta/__init__.py b/django/core/meta/__init__.py
index 8b760dced7..39ba4bc434 100644
--- a/django/core/meta/__init__.py
+++ b/django/core/meta/__init__.py
@@ -282,6 +282,81 @@ class RelatedObject(object):
             rel_obj_name = '%s_%s' % (self.opts.app_label, rel_obj_name)
         return rel_obj_name
 
+class QBase:
+    "Base class for QAnd and QOr"
+    def __init__(self, *args):
+        self.args = args
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return '(%s)' % self.operator.join([repr(el) for el in self.args])
+
+    def get_sql(self, opts, table_count):
+        tables, join_where, where, params = [], [], [], []
+        for val in self.args:
+            tables2, join_where2, where2, params2, table_count = val.get_sql(opts, table_count)
+            tables.extend(tables2)
+            join_where.extend(join_where2)
+            where.extend(where2)
+            params.extend(params2)
+        return tables, join_where, ['(%s)' % self.operator.join(where)], params, table_count
+
+class QAnd(QBase):
+    "Encapsulates a combined query that uses 'AND'."
+    operator = ' AND '
+    def __or__(self, other):
+        if isinstance(other, (QAnd, QOr, Q)):
+            return QOr(self, other)
+        else:
+            raise TypeError, other
+
+    def __and__(self, other):
+        if isinstance(other, QAnd):
+            return QAnd(*(self.args+other.args))
+        elif isinstance(other, (Q, QOr)):
+            return QAnd(*(self.args+(other,)))
+        else:
+            raise TypeError, other
+
+class QOr(QBase):
+    "Encapsulates a combined query that uses 'OR'."
+    operator = ' OR '
+    def __and__(self, other):
+        if isinstance(other, (QAnd, QOr, Q)):
+            return QAnd(self, other)
+        else:
+            raise TypeError, other
+
+    def __or__(self, other):
+        if isinstance(other, QOr):
+            return QOr(*(self.args+other.args))
+        elif isinstance(other, (Q, QAnd)):
+            return QOr(*(self.args+(other,)))
+        else:
+            raise TypeError, other
+
+class Q:
+    "Encapsulates queries for the 'complex' parameter to Django API functions."
+    def __init__(self, **kwargs):
+        self.kwargs = kwargs
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return 'Q%r' % self.kwargs
+
+    def __and__(self, other):
+        if isinstance(other, (Q, QAnd, QOr)):
+            return QAnd(self, other)
+        else:
+            raise TypeError, other
+
+    def __or__(self, other):
+        if isinstance(other, (Q, QAnd, QOr)):
+            return QOr(self, other)
+        else:
+            raise TypeError, other
+
+    def get_sql(self, opts, table_count):
+        return _parse_lookup(self.kwargs.items(), opts, table_count)
+
 class Options:
     def __init__(self, module_name='', verbose_name='', verbose_name_plural='', db_table='',
         fields=None, ordering=None, unique_together=None, admin=None, has_related_links=False,
@@ -1390,6 +1465,13 @@ def _parse_lookup(kwarg_items, opts, table_count=0):
             continue
         if kwarg_value is None:
             continue
+        if kwarg == 'complex':
+            tables2, join_where2, where2, params2, table_count = kwarg_value.get_sql(opts, table_count)
+            tables.extend(tables2)
+            join_where.extend(join_where2)
+            where.extend(where2)
+            params.extend(params2)
+            continue
         if kwarg == '_or':
             for val in kwarg_value:
                 tables2, join_where2, where2, params2, table_count = _parse_lookup(val, opts, table_count)
diff --git a/docs/db-api.txt b/docs/db-api.txt
index fe17bd5921..3cee4d6c6e 100644
--- a/docs/db-api.txt
+++ b/docs/db-api.txt
@@ -219,6 +219,42 @@ If you pass an invalid keyword argument, the function will raise ``TypeError``.
 
 .. _`Keyword Arguments`: http://docs.python.org/tut/node6.html#SECTION006720000000000000000
 
+OR lookups
+----------
+
+**New in Django development version.**
+
+By default, multiple lookups are "AND"ed together. If you'd like to use ``OR``
+statements in your queries, use the ``complex`` lookup type.
+
+``complex`` takes an expression of clauses, each of which is an instance of
+``django.core.meta.Q``. ``Q`` takes an arbitrary number of keyword arguments in
+the standard Django lookup format. And you can use Python's "and" (``&``) and
+"or" (``|``) operators to combine ``Q`` instances. For example::
+
+    from django.core.meta import Q
+    polls.get_object(complex=(Q(question__startswith='Who') | Q(question__startswith='What')))
+
+The ``|`` symbol signifies an "OR", so this (roughly) translates into::
+
+    SELECT * FROM polls
+    WHERE question LIKE 'Who%' OR question LIKE 'What%';
+
+You can use ``&`` and ``|`` operators together, and use parenthetical grouping.
+Example::
+
+    polls.get_object(complex=(Q(question__startswith='Who') & (Q(pub_date__exact=date(2005, 5, 2)) | pub_date__exact=date(2005, 5, 6)))
+
+This roughly translates into::
+
+    SELECT * FROM polls
+    WHERE question LIKE 'Who%'
+        AND (pub_date = '2005-05-02' OR pub_date = '2005-05-06');
+
+See the `OR lookups examples page`_ for more examples.
+
+.. _OR lookups examples page: http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/models/or_lookups/
+
 Ordering
 ========
 
diff --git a/tests/testapp/models/__init__.py b/tests/testapp/models/__init__.py
index c0e39fae7d..a8aeada597 100644
--- a/tests/testapp/models/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/testapp/models/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 __all__ = ['basic', 'repr', 'custom_methods', 'many_to_one', 'many_to_many',
            'ordering', 'lookup', 'get_latest', 'm2m_intermediary', 'one_to_one',
            'm2o_recursive', 'm2o_recursive2', 'save_delete_hooks', 'custom_pk',
-           'subclassing', 'many_to_one_null', 'custom_columns', 'reserved_names']
+           'subclassing', 'many_to_one_null', 'custom_columns', 'reserved_names',
+           'or_lookups']
diff --git a/tests/testapp/models/or_lookups.py b/tests/testapp/models/or_lookups.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0bf554e408
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testapp/models/or_lookups.py
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+"""
+19. OR lookups
+
+To perform an OR lookup, or a lookup that combines ANDs and ORs, use the
+``complex`` keyword argument, and pass it an expression of clauses using the
+variable ``django.core.meta.Q``.
+"""
+
+from django.core import meta
+
+class Article(meta.Model):
+    headline = meta.CharField(maxlength=50)
+    pub_date = meta.DateTimeField()
+    class META:
+       ordering = ('pub_date',)
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return self.headline
+
+API_TESTS = """
+>>> from datetime import datetime
+>>> from django.core.meta import Q
+
+>>> a1 = articles.Article(headline='Hello', pub_date=datetime(2005, 11, 27))
+>>> a1.save()
+
+>>> a2 = articles.Article(headline='Goodbye', pub_date=datetime(2005, 11, 28))
+>>> a2.save()
+
+>>> a3 = articles.Article(headline='Hello and goodbye', pub_date=datetime(2005, 11, 29))
+>>> a3.save()
+
+>>> articles.get_list(complex=(Q(headline__startswith='Hello') | Q(headline__startswith='Goodbye')))
+[Hello, Goodbye, Hello and goodbye]
+
+>>> articles.get_list(complex=(Q(headline__startswith='Hello') & Q(headline__startswith='Goodbye')))
+[]
+
+>>> articles.get_list(complex=(Q(headline__startswith='Hello') & Q(headline__contains='bye')))
+[Hello and goodbye]
+
+>>> articles.get_list(headline__startswith='Hello', complex=Q(headline__contains='bye'))
+[Hello and goodbye]
+
+>>> articles.get_list(complex=(Q(headline__contains='Hello') | Q(headline__contains='bye')))
+[Hello, Goodbye, Hello and goodbye]
+
+>>> articles.get_list(complex=(Q(headline__iexact='Hello') | Q(headline__contains='ood')))
+[Hello, Goodbye, Hello and goodbye]
+
+>>> articles.get_list(complex=(Q(pk=1) | Q(pk=2)))
+[Hello, Goodbye]
+
+>>> articles.get_list(complex=(Q(pk=1) | Q(pk=2) | Q(pk=3)))
+[Hello, Goodbye, Hello and goodbye]
+
+"""