diff --git a/gtk/gtkfilechooserwidget.c b/gtk/gtkfilechooserwidget.c
index 9c51220310..689eaaa085 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkfilechooserwidget.c
+++ b/gtk/gtkfilechooserwidget.c
@@ -7007,9 +7007,7 @@ search_engine_hits_added_cb (GtkSearchEngine      *engine,
   for (l = hits; l; l = l->next)
     {
       GtkSearchHit *hit = (GtkSearchHit *)l->data;
-      file = g_file_new_for_uri (hit->uri);
-      if (!file)
-        continue;
+      file = g_object_ref (hit->file);
       if (hit->info)
         {
           files_with_info = g_list_prepend (files_with_info, file);
diff --git a/gtk/gtksearchengine.c b/gtk/gtksearchengine.c
index eff96923aa..fbbb80b0d0 100644
--- a/gtk/gtksearchengine.c
+++ b/gtk/gtksearchengine.c
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ search_hit_equal (gconstpointer a, gconstpointer b)
   const GtkSearchHit *ha = (const GtkSearchHit *)a;
   const GtkSearchHit *hb = (const GtkSearchHit *)b;
 
-  return g_str_equal (ha->uri, hb->uri);
+  return g_file_equal (ha->file, hb->file);
 }
 
 
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ search_hit_hash (gconstpointer a)
 {
   const GtkSearchHit *ha = (const GtkSearchHit *)a;
 
-  return g_str_hash (ha->uri);
+  return g_file_hash (ha->file);
 }
 
 GtkSearchHit *
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ _gtk_search_hit_dup (GtkSearchHit *hit)
   GtkSearchHit *dup;
 
   dup = g_new (GtkSearchHit, 1);
-  dup->uri = g_strdup (hit->uri);
+  dup->file = g_object_ref (hit->file);
   if (hit->info)
     dup->info = g_object_ref (hit->info);
   else
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ _gtk_search_hit_dup (GtkSearchHit *hit)
 void
 _gtk_search_hit_free (GtkSearchHit *hit)
 {
-  g_free (hit->uri);
+  g_clear_object (&hit->file);
   g_clear_object (&hit->info);
   g_free (hit);
 }
diff --git a/gtk/gtksearchengine.h b/gtk/gtksearchengine.h
index e49eeb8c79..c3d181274d 100644
--- a/gtk/gtksearchengine.h
+++ b/gtk/gtksearchengine.h
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ typedef struct _GtkSearchHit GtkSearchHit;
 
 struct _GtkSearchHit
 {
-  gchar *uri;
+  GFile *file;
   GFileInfo *info; /* may be NULL */
 };
 
diff --git a/gtk/gtksearchenginemodel.c b/gtk/gtksearchenginemodel.c
index a7f00eec4d..f245e1aa21 100644
--- a/gtk/gtksearchenginemodel.c
+++ b/gtk/gtksearchenginemodel.c
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ do_search (gpointer data)
 
               file = _gtk_file_system_model_get_file (model->model, &iter);
               hit = g_new (GtkSearchHit, 1);
-              hit->uri = g_file_get_uri (file);
+              hit->file = g_object_ref (file);
               hit->info = g_object_ref (info);
               hits = g_list_prepend (hits, hit);
             }
diff --git a/gtk/gtksearchenginesimple.c b/gtk/gtksearchenginesimple.c
index 4db84ce784..1b5a31be96 100644
--- a/gtk/gtksearchenginesimple.c
+++ b/gtk/gtksearchenginesimple.c
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ visit_directory (GFile *dir, SearchThreadData *data)
           GtkSearchHit *hit;
 
           hit = g_new (GtkSearchHit, 1);
-          hit->uri = g_file_get_uri (child);
+          hit->file = g_object_ref (child);
           hit->info = g_object_ref (info);
           data->hits = g_list_prepend (data->hits, hit);
         }
diff --git a/gtk/gtksearchenginetracker.c b/gtk/gtksearchenginetracker.c
index 7c4e063282..bac7a09afd 100644
--- a/gtk/gtksearchenginetracker.c
+++ b/gtk/gtksearchenginetracker.c
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ query_callback (GObject      *object,
 
       v = g_variant_iter_next_value (&iter);
       strv = g_variant_get_strv (v, NULL);
-      hit[i].uri = (gchar*)strv[0];
+      hit[i].file = g_file_new_for_uri (strv[0]);
       hit[i].info = NULL;
       g_free (strv);
       hits = g_list_prepend (hits, &hit[i]);