diff --git a/lib/filters/approx_filter.js b/lib/filters/approx_filter.js
index 0074adb..9647a42 100644
--- a/lib/filters/approx_filter.js
+++ b/lib/filters/approx_filter.js
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ ApproximateFilter.prototype.matches = function(target) {
 ApproximateFilter.prototype.parse = function(ber) {
   assert.ok(ber);
 
-  this.attribute = ber.readString();
+  this.attribute = ber.readString().toLowerCase();
   this.value = ber.readString();
 
   return true;
diff --git a/lib/filters/equality_filter.js b/lib/filters/equality_filter.js
index 2fae0c6..c267f46 100644
--- a/lib/filters/equality_filter.js
+++ b/lib/filters/equality_filter.js
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ EqualityFilter.prototype.matches = function(target) {
 EqualityFilter.prototype.parse = function(ber) {
   assert.ok(ber);
 
-  this.attribute = ber.readString();
+  this.attribute = ber.readString().toLowerCase();
   this.value = ber.readString();
 
   return true;
diff --git a/lib/filters/ge_filter.js b/lib/filters/ge_filter.js
index cb2e19b..9177c4c 100644
--- a/lib/filters/ge_filter.js
+++ b/lib/filters/ge_filter.js
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ GreaterThanEqualsFilter.prototype.matches = function(target) {
     throw new TypeError('target (object) required');
 
   var matches = false;
+
   if (target.hasOwnProperty(this.attribute)) {
     if (Array.isArray(target[this.attribute])) {
       for (var i = 0; i < target[this.attribute].length; i++) {
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ GreaterThanEqualsFilter.prototype.matches = function(target) {
 GreaterThanEqualsFilter.prototype.parse = function(ber) {
   assert.ok(ber);
 
-  this.attribute = ber.readString();
+  this.attribute = ber.readString().toLowerCase();
   this.value = ber.readString();
 
   return true;
diff --git a/lib/filters/le_filter.js b/lib/filters/le_filter.js
index 9c72303..eb87149 100644
--- a/lib/filters/le_filter.js
+++ b/lib/filters/le_filter.js
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ LessThanEqualsFilter.prototype.matches = function(target) {
 LessThanEqualsFilter.prototype.parse = function(ber) {
   assert.ok(ber);
 
-  this.attribute = ber.readString();
+  this.attribute = ber.readString().toLowerCase();
   this.value = ber.readString();
 
   return true;
diff --git a/lib/filters/presence_filter.js b/lib/filters/presence_filter.js
index 4ed4ae3..9fccf90 100644
--- a/lib/filters/presence_filter.js
+++ b/lib/filters/presence_filter.js
@@ -50,11 +50,7 @@ PresenceFilter.prototype.parse = function(ber) {
   assert.ok(ber);
 
   this.attribute =
-    ber
-    .buffer
-    .slice(0, ber.length)
-    .toString('utf8')
-    .toLowerCase();
+    ber.buffer.slice(0, ber.length).toString('utf8').toLowerCase();
 
   ber._offset += ber.length;
 
diff --git a/lib/filters/substr_filter.js b/lib/filters/substr_filter.js
index 7bf7650..31ed374 100644
--- a/lib/filters/substr_filter.js
+++ b/lib/filters/substr_filter.js
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ SubstringFilter.prototype.matches = function(target) {
 SubstringFilter.prototype.parse = function(ber) {
   assert.ok(ber);
 
-  this.attribute = ber.readString();
+  this.attribute = ber.readString().toLowerCase();
   ber.readSequence();
   var end = ber.offset + ber.length;
 
diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index 491f30c..b067445 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@ module.exports = {
 
   loadSchema: schema.load,
   createSchemaAddHandler: schema.createAddHandler,
-  createSchemaModifyHandler: schema.createModifyHandler
+  createSchemaModifyHandler: schema.createModifyHandler,
+  createSchemaSearchHandler: schema.createSearchHandler
 };
 
 
diff --git a/lib/schema/index.js b/lib/schema/index.js
index 9299f76..9e28b20 100644
--- a/lib/schema/index.js
+++ b/lib/schema/index.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 var createAddHandler = require('./add_handler');
 var createModifyHandler = require('./mod_handler');
+var createSearchHandler = require('./search_handler');
 var parser = require('./parser');
 
 
@@ -14,6 +15,8 @@ module.exports = {
 
   createModifyHandler: createModifyHandler,
 
+  createSearchHandler: createSearchHandler,
+
   load: parser.load
 
 };
diff --git a/lib/schema/search_handler.js b/lib/schema/search_handler.js
index e0529e4..8b286e6 100644
--- a/lib/schema/search_handler.js
+++ b/lib/schema/search_handler.js
@@ -9,14 +9,54 @@ var logStub = require('../log_stub');
 var getTransformer = require('./transform').getTransformer;
 
 
+function transformFilter(schema, filter) {
+  assert.ok(schema);
+  assert.ok(filter);
+
+  var attributes = schema.attributes;
+
+  switch (filter.type) {
+  case 'equal':
+  case 'approx':
+  case 'ge':
+  case 'le':
+    if (!attributes[filter.attribute.toLowerCase()])
+      throw new errors.NoSuchAttributeError(filter.attribute);
+
+    var transform = getTransformer(schema, filter.attribute);
+    if (transform)
+      filter.value = transform(filter.value) || filter.value;
+
+    break;
+
+  case 'substring':
+  case 'present':
+    if (!attributes[filter.attribute.toLowerCase()])
+      throw new errors.NoSuchAttributeError(filter.attribute);
+
+    break;
+
+  case 'and':
+  case 'or':
+    for (var i = 0; i < filter.filters.length; i++)
+      filter.filters[i] = transformFilter(schema, filter.filters[i]);
+
+    break;
+
+  case 'not':
+    filter.filter = trasnformFilter(schema, filter.filter);
+  }
+
+  return filter;
+}
+
+
 
 function createSearchHandler(options) {
   if (!options || typeof(options) !== 'object')
     throw new TypeError('options (object) required');
   if (!options.schema || typeof(options.schema) !== 'object')
     throw new TypeError('options.schema (object) required');
-  // TODO add a callback mechanism here so objectclass constraints can be
-  // enforced
 
   var log4js = options.log4js || logStub;
   var log = log4js.getLogger('SchemaSearchHandler');
@@ -30,8 +70,18 @@ function createSearchHandler(options) {
     if (log.isDebugEnabled())
       log.debug('%s running %j against schema', req.logId, req.filter);
 
+    try {
+      req.filter = transformFilter(schema, req.filter);
+    } catch (e) {
+      if (log.isDebugEnabled())
+        log.debug('%s error transforming filter: %s', req.logId, e.stack);
+      return next(e);
+    }
+
     return next();
   }
 }
 
+
+
 module.exports = createSearchHandler;