diff --git a/src/com/android/dialer/DialtactsActivity.java b/src/com/android/dialer/DialtactsActivity.java
index faf63cd..04934c7 100644
--- a/src/com/android/dialer/DialtactsActivity.java
+++ b/src/com/android/dialer/DialtactsActivity.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import android.content.ActivityNotFoundException;
 import android.content.Context;
 import android.content.Intent;
+import android.graphics.drawable.Drawable;
 import android.net.Uri;
 import android.os.Bundle;
 import android.os.RemoteException;
@@ -38,8 +39,11 @@
 import android.speech.RecognizerIntent;
 import android.telephony.TelephonyManager;
 import android.text.Editable;
+import android.text.Spannable;
+import android.text.SpannableStringBuilder;
 import android.text.TextUtils;
 import android.text.TextWatcher;
+import android.text.style.ImageSpan;
 import android.util.Log;
 import android.view.Menu;
 import android.view.MenuItem;
@@ -507,7 +511,19 @@
         mVoiceSearchButton.setOnClickListener(this);
         mSearchView = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.search_view);
         mSearchView.addTextChangedListener(mPhoneSearchQueryTextListener);
-        mSearchView.setHint(getString(R.string.dialer_hint_find_contact));
+
+        final String hintText = getString(R.string.dialer_hint_find_contact);
+
+        // The following code is used to insert an icon into a CharSequence (copied from
+        // SearchView)
+        final SpannableStringBuilder ssb = new SpannableStringBuilder("   "); // for the icon
+        ssb.append(hintText);
+        final Drawable searchIcon = getResources().getDrawable(R.drawable.ic_ab_search);
+        final int textSize = (int) (mSearchView.getTextSize() * 1.20);
+        searchIcon.setBounds(0, 0, textSize, textSize);
+        ssb.setSpan(new ImageSpan(searchIcon), 1, 2, Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
+
+        mSearchView.setHint(ssb);
     }
 
     final AnimatorListener mHideListener = new AnimatorListenerAdapter() {