diff --git a/combo/data/templates/combo/search/page.txt b/combo/data/templates/combo/search/page.txt
index 93d4b0a5..4e21afaa 100644
--- a/combo/data/templates/combo/search/page.txt
+++ b/combo/data/templates/combo/search/page.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 {% autoescape off %}
 {% for cell in object.get_cells %}
- {{ cell.render_for_search }}
+ {% if cell.placeholder|first != '_' %} {# ignore technical placeholders #}
+  {{ cell.render_for_search }}
+ {% endif %}
 {% endfor %}
 {% endautoescape %}
diff --git a/tests/test_search.py b/tests/test_search.py
index 3d1757e0..b23d996f 100644
--- a/tests/test_search.py
+++ b/tests/test_search.py
@@ -189,6 +189,18 @@ def test_search_contents_index():
     prepared_data = page_index.prepare(page)
     assert 'foobar' in prepared_data['text']
 
+def test_search_contents_technical_placeholder():
+    page = Page(title='example page', slug='example-page')
+    page.save()
+
+    TextCell(page=page, text='<p>foobar</p>', order=0, placeholder='_off').save()
+    TextCell(page=page, text='<p>barfoo</p>', order=0, placeholder='on').save()
+
+    page_index = PageIndex()
+    prepared_data = page_index.prepare(page)
+    assert 'barfoo' in prepared_data['text']
+    assert not 'foobar' in prepared_data['text']
+
 def test_search_api(app):
     page = Page(title='example page', slug='example-page')
     page.save()