diff --git a/pym/_emerge/search.py b/pym/_emerge/search.py
index 1d710ee..5821c37 100644
--- a/pym/_emerge/search.py
+++ b/pym/_emerge/search.py
@@ -50,7 +50,10 @@ class search(object):
 		bindb = root_config.trees["bintree"].dbapi
 		vardb = root_config.trees["vartree"].dbapi
 
-		if search_index:
+		# The indexed variants can actually be slower when only
+		# package names need to be searched, so only use indices
+		# for searchdesc.
+		if search_index and searchdesc:
 			portdb = IndexedPortdb(portdb)
 			vardb = IndexedVardb(vardb)