diff --git a/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/category/CategoriesModel.kt b/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/category/CategoriesModel.kt
index ab11b9863..01f74c049 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/category/CategoriesModel.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/category/CategoriesModel.kt
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ class CategoriesModel @Inject constructor(
                 Function4(::combine)
             )
         else
-            categoryClient.searchCategoriesForPrefix(term.toLowerCase(), SEARCH_CATS_LIMIT)
+            categoryClient.searchCategoriesForPrefix(term, SEARCH_CATS_LIMIT)
                 .map { it.sortedWith(StringSortingUtils.sortBySimilarity(term)) }
                 .toObservable()
     }
@@ -122,12 +122,11 @@ class CategoriesModel @Inject constructor(
 
     /**
      * Return category for single title
-     * title is converted to lower case to make search case-insensitive
      * @param title
      * @return
      */
     private fun getTitleCategories(title: String): Observable<List<String>> {
-        return categoryClient.searchCategories(title.toLowerCase(), SEARCH_CATS_LIMIT).toObservable()
+        return categoryClient.searchCategories(title, SEARCH_CATS_LIMIT).toObservable()
     }
 
 
@@ -160,6 +159,6 @@ class CategoriesModel @Inject constructor(
     }
 
     companion object {
-        private const val SEARCH_CATS_LIMIT = 25
+        const val SEARCH_CATS_LIMIT = 25
     }
 }
diff --git a/app/src/test/kotlin/fr/free/nrw/commons/category/CategoriesModelTest.kt b/app/src/test/kotlin/fr/free/nrw/commons/category/CategoriesModelTest.kt
index 4ca38f709..b87792fba 100644
--- a/app/src/test/kotlin/fr/free/nrw/commons/category/CategoriesModelTest.kt
+++ b/app/src/test/kotlin/fr/free/nrw/commons/category/CategoriesModelTest.kt
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package fr.free.nrw.commons.category
 
 import categoryItem
 import com.nhaarman.mockitokotlin2.mock
+import com.nhaarman.mockitokotlin2.verify
 import com.nhaarman.mockitokotlin2.whenever
 import depictedItem
 import fr.free.nrw.commons.upload.GpsCategoryModel
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@ import io.reactivex.Single
 import io.reactivex.subjects.BehaviorSubject
 import org.junit.Before
 import org.junit.Test
+import org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers
 import org.mockito.Mock
 import org.mockito.MockitoAnnotations
 
@@ -27,26 +29,39 @@ class CategoriesModelTest {
         MockitoAnnotations.initMocks(this)
     }
 
-    // Test Case for verifying that Categories search (MW api calls) are case-insensitive
+    // Test Case for verifying that Categories search (MW api calls)
     @Test
     fun searchAllFoundCaseTest() {
         val categoriesModel = CategoriesModel(categoryClient, mock(), mock())
 
         val expectedList = listOf("Test")
-        whenever(categoryClient.searchCategoriesForPrefix("tes", 25))
+        whenever(
+            categoryClient.searchCategoriesForPrefix(
+                ArgumentMatchers.anyString(),
+                ArgumentMatchers.anyInt(),
+                ArgumentMatchers.anyInt()
+            )
+        )
             .thenReturn(Single.just(expectedList))
 
         // Checking if both return "Test"
         val expectedItems = expectedList.map { CategoryItem(it, false) }
-        categoriesModel.searchAll("tes", emptyList(), emptyList())
+        var categoryTerm = "Test"
+        categoriesModel.searchAll(categoryTerm, emptyList(), emptyList())
             .test()
             .assertValues(expectedItems)
 
-        categoriesModel.searchAll("Tes", emptyList(), emptyList())
+        verify(categoryClient).searchCategoriesForPrefix(
+            categoryTerm,
+            CategoriesModel.SEARCH_CATS_LIMIT
+        )
+
+        categoriesModel.searchAll(categoryTerm, emptyList(), emptyList())
             .test()
             .assertValues(expectedItems)
     }
 
+
     @Test
     fun `searchAll with empty search terms creates results from gps, title search & recents`() {
         val gpsCategoryModel: GpsCategoryModel = mock()
@@ -54,11 +69,18 @@ class CategoriesModelTest {
 
         whenever(gpsCategoryModel.categoriesFromLocation)
             .thenReturn(BehaviorSubject.createDefault(listOf("gpsCategory")))
-        whenever(categoryClient.searchCategories("tes", 25))
+        whenever(
+            categoryClient.searchCategories(
+                ArgumentMatchers.anyString(),
+                ArgumentMatchers.anyInt(),
+                ArgumentMatchers.anyInt()
+            )
+        )
             .thenReturn(Single.just(listOf("titleSearch")))
         whenever(categoryDao.recentCategories(25)).thenReturn(listOf("recentCategories"))
+        val imageTitleList = listOf("Test")
         CategoriesModel(categoryClient, categoryDao, gpsCategoryModel)
-            .searchAll("", listOf("tes"), listOf(depictedItem))
+            .searchAll("", imageTitleList, listOf(depictedItem))
             .test()
             .assertValue(
                 listOf(
@@ -68,5 +90,8 @@ class CategoriesModelTest {
                     categoryItem("recentCategories")
                 )
             )
+        imageTitleList.forEach {
+            verify(categoryClient).searchCategories(it, CategoriesModel.SEARCH_CATS_LIMIT)
+        }
     }
 }