diff --git a/src/webui/api/searchcontroller.cpp b/src/webui/api/searchcontroller.cpp
index b157e6f35..6f8c9a7c6 100644
--- a/src/webui/api/searchcontroller.cpp
+++ b/src/webui/api/searchcontroller.cpp
@@ -43,8 +43,6 @@
 #include "apierror.h"
 #include "isessionmanager.h"
 
-class SearchPluginManager;
-
 using SearchHandlerPtr = QSharedPointer<SearchHandler>;
 using SearchHandlerDict = QMap<int, SearchHandlerPtr>;
 
@@ -59,6 +57,32 @@ namespace
         if (activeSearches.remove(id))
             session->setData(ACTIVE_SEARCHES, QVariant::fromValue(activeSearches));
     }
+
+    /**
+    * Returns the search categories in JSON format.
+    *
+    * The return value is an array of dictionaries.
+    * The dictionary keys are:
+    *   - "id"
+    *   - "name"
+    */
+    QJsonArray getPluginCategories(QStringList categories)
+    {
+        QJsonArray categoriesInfo {QJsonObject {
+            {QLatin1String("id"), "all"},
+            {QLatin1String("name"), SearchPluginManager::categoryFullName("all")}
+        }};
+
+        categories.sort(Qt::CaseInsensitive);
+        for (const QString &category : categories) {
+            categoriesInfo << QJsonObject {
+                {QLatin1String("id"), category},
+                {QLatin1String("name"), SearchPluginManager::categoryFullName(category)}
+            };
+        }
+
+        return categoriesInfo;
+    }
 }
 
 void SearchController::startAction()
@@ -201,19 +225,6 @@ void SearchController::deleteAction()
     removeActiveSearch(session, id);
 }
 
-void SearchController::categoriesAction()
-{
-    QStringList categories;
-    const QString name = params()["pluginName"].trimmed();
-
-    categories << SearchPluginManager::categoryFullName("all");
-    for (const QString &category : asConst(SearchPluginManager::instance()->getPluginCategories(name)))
-        categories << SearchPluginManager::categoryFullName(category);
-
-    const QJsonArray result = QJsonArray::fromStringList(categories);
-    setResult(result);
-}
-
 void SearchController::pluginsAction()
 {
     const QStringList allPlugins = SearchPluginManager::instance()->allPlugins();
@@ -363,7 +374,7 @@ QJsonArray SearchController::getPluginsInfo(const QStringList &plugins) const
             {"version", QString(pluginInfo->version)},
             {"fullName", pluginInfo->fullName},
             {"url", pluginInfo->url},
-            {"supportedCategories", QJsonArray::fromStringList(pluginInfo->supportedCategories)},
+            {"supportedCategories", getPluginCategories(pluginInfo->supportedCategories)},
             {"enabled", pluginInfo->enabled}
         };
     }
diff --git a/src/webui/api/searchcontroller.h b/src/webui/api/searchcontroller.h
index bfbc34dcd..cbdf1c8b7 100644
--- a/src/webui/api/searchcontroller.h
+++ b/src/webui/api/searchcontroller.h
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@ private slots:
     void statusAction();
     void resultsAction();
     void deleteAction();
-    void categoriesAction();
     void pluginsAction();
     void installPluginAction();
     void uninstallPluginAction();
diff --git a/src/webui/www/private/views/search.html b/src/webui/www/private/views/search.html
index 545a73f6a..075593f19 100644
--- a/src/webui/www/private/views/search.html
+++ b/src/webui/www/private/views/search.html
@@ -335,8 +335,6 @@
                 const plugins = $('pluginsSelect').getProperty('value');
 
                 if (!pattern || !category || !plugins) return;
-                if (category === "QBT_TR(All categories)QBT_TR[CONTEXT=SearchEngineWidget]")
-                    category = "all";
 
                 resetFilters();
 
@@ -462,36 +460,43 @@
             const populateCategorySelect = function(categories) {
                 const categoryHtml = [];
                 categories.each(function(category) {
-                    categoryHtml.push("<option>" + category + "</option>");
+                    const option = new Element("option");
+                    option.set("value", category.id);
+                    option.set("html", category.name);
+                    categoryHtml.push(option.outerHTML);
                 });
 
                 // first category is "All Categories"
-                if (categoryHtml.length > 1)
+                if (categoryHtml.length > 1) {
                     // add separator
-                    categoryHtml.splice(1, 0, "<option disabled>──────────</option>");
+                    const option = new Element("option");
+                    option.set("disabled", true);
+                    option.set("html", "──────────");
+                    categoryHtml.splice(1, 0, option.outerHTML);
+                }
 
                 $('categorySelect').set('html', categoryHtml.join(""));
             };
 
             const selectedPlugin = $('pluginsSelect').get("value");
+
             if ((selectedPlugin === "all") || (selectedPlugin === "enabled")) {
-                const url = new URI('api/v2/search/categories');
-                url.setData('name', selectedPlugin);
-                new Request.JSON({
-                    url: url,
-                    noCache: true,
-                    method: 'get',
-                    onSuccess: function(response) {
-                        populateCategorySelect(response);
-                    }
-                }).send();
+                const uniqueCategories = {};
+                for (const plugin of searchPlugins) {
+                    if ((selectedPlugin === "enabled") && !plugin.enabled) continue
+                    for (const category of plugin.supportedCategories) {
+                        if (uniqueCategories[category.id] === undefined) {
+                            uniqueCategories[category.id] = category;
+                        }
+                     }
+                }
+                // we must sort the ids to maintain consistent order.
+                const categories = Object.keys(uniqueCategories).sort().map(id => uniqueCategories[id]);
+                populateCategorySelect(categories);
             }
             else {
-                let plugins = ["QBT_TR(All categories)QBT_TR[CONTEXT=SearchEngineWidget]"];
                 const plugin = getPlugin(selectedPlugin);
-                if (plugin !== null)
-                    plugins = plugins.concat(plugin.supportedCategories);
-
+                const plugins = (plugin === null) ? [] : plugin.supportedCategories
                 populateCategorySelect(plugins);
             }