diff --git a/include/functions.php b/include/functions.php
index fd395a6a..314f3b49 100644
--- a/include/functions.php
+++ b/include/functions.php
@@ -2316,7 +2316,7 @@ function validfilename($name) {
 }
 
 function validemail($email) {
-	return preg_match('/^[\w.-]+@([\w.-]+\.)+[a-z]{2,6}$/is', $email);
+    return filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL) !== false;
 }
 
 function validlang($langid) {
diff --git a/public/usersearch.php b/public/usersearch.php
index 2afd2c1b..69c2d5f9 100644
--- a/public/usersearch.php
+++ b/public/usersearch.php
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ if (count($_GET) > 0 && !$_GET['h'])
 	  	if (strpos($email,'*') === False && strpos($email,'?') === False
 	    		&& strpos($email,'%') === False)
 	    {
-      	if (validemail($email) !== 1)
+      	if (!validemail($email))
       	{
 	        stdmsg("Error", "Bad email.");
 	        stdfoot();