diff --git a/combo/apps/maps/models.py b/combo/apps/maps/models.py
index 479d0cda..a3ee88f9 100644
--- a/combo/apps/maps/models.py
+++ b/combo/apps/maps/models.py
@@ -212,11 +212,20 @@ class MapLayer(models.Model):
 
             def match(feature):
                 matching_query_words = set()
-                for geo_property in feature['properties'].values() + additional_strings:
-                    if not isinstance(geo_property, six.string_types):
-                        continue
+                feature_words = additional_strings[:]
+
+                def get_feature_words(properties):
+                    for property in properties.values():
+                        if isinstance(property, six.string_types):
+                            feature_words.append(property)
+                        elif isinstance(property, dict):
+                            get_feature_words(property)
+
+                get_feature_words(feature['properties'])
+
+                for feature_word in feature_words:
                     for word in query_words:
-                        if word in slugify(geo_property):
+                        if word in slugify(feature_word):
                             matching_query_words.add(word)
                     if len(matching_query_words) == len(query_words):
                         return True
diff --git a/tests/test_maps_cells.py b/tests/test_maps_cells.py
index 5e385570..d7ee39c0 100644
--- a/tests/test_maps_cells.py
+++ b/tests/test_maps_cells.py
@@ -36,7 +36,10 @@ SAMPLE_GEOJSON_CONTENT = '''{
       "type": "Feature",
       "properties": {
          "name": "Bar",
-         "extra": "Baz"
+         "extra": "Baz",
+         "subdict": {
+           "plop": "Whatever"
+         }
       },
       "geometry": {
         "type": "Point",
@@ -262,6 +265,10 @@ def test_get_geojson(app, layer, user):
         resp = app.get(reverse('mapcell-geojson', kwargs={'cell_id': cell.id}) + '?q=bicycle')
         assert len(json.loads(resp.content)['features']) == 0
 
+        # query against subproperty
+        resp = app.get(reverse('mapcell-geojson', kwargs={'cell_id': cell.id}) + '?q=whatever')
+        assert len(json.loads(resp.content)['features']) == 1
+
     # check distance query on geojson
     layer.geojson_url = 'http://example.org/geojson?t6'
     layer.include_user_identifier = False