diff --git a/frontend/src/App.tsx b/frontend/src/App.tsx
index e931d3e..cb9fc85 100644
--- a/frontend/src/App.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/App.tsx
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ const App = () => {
             path="/player/:player_id/:char_short?/:count?/:offset?"
             element={<Player />}
           />
-          <Route path="/search/:search_string/:exact?" element={<Search />} />
+          <Route path="/search" element={<Search />} />
           <Route path="/stats" element={<Stats />} />
           <Route path="/popularity" element={<Popularity />} />
           <Route path="/matchup" element={<Matchup />} />
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/NavBar.tsx b/frontend/src/components/NavBar.tsx
index 6a160bf..927c4a4 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/NavBar.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/NavBar.tsx
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ import {
   useEffect,
   useState,
 } from "react";
-import { Link, useNavigate } from "react-router-dom";
+import { Link } from "react-router-dom";
+import { useSearchNavigation } from "../hooks/useSearchNavigation";
 import { JSONParse } from "../utils/JSONParse";
 import { StorageUtils } from "../utils/Storage";
 
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ function resetCharacters() {
 }
 
 function NavBar() {
-  const navigate = useNavigate();
+  const navigateToSearch = useSearchNavigation();
 
   const [anchorElNav, setAnchorElNav] = useState<HTMLElement | null>(null);
 
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ function NavBar() {
     null,
   );
 
-  const [searchString, setSearchString] = useState("");
+  const [searchQuery, setSearchQuery] = useState("");
 
   const API_ENDPOINT = import.meta.env.VITE_API_ENDPOINT;
 
@@ -66,21 +67,21 @@ function NavBar() {
   const handleSearchChange = (event: {
     target: { value: SetStateAction<string> };
   }) => {
-    setSearchString(event.target.value);
+    setSearchQuery(event.target.value);
   };
 
   const handleSearchKeyDown = (event: { key: string }) => {
     if (event.key === "Enter") {
-      navigate(`/search/${searchString}`);
+      navigateToSearch(searchQuery, false);
     }
   };
 
   const handleSearchClick = () => {
-    navigate(`/search/${searchString}`);
+    navigateToSearch(searchQuery, false);
   };
 
   const handleExactSearchClick = () => {
-    navigate(`/search/${searchString}/exact`);
+    navigateToSearch(searchQuery, true);
   };
 
   useEffect(() => {
@@ -251,7 +252,7 @@ function NavBar() {
                 variant="outlined"
                 label="Search..."
                 style={{ marginTop: 10 }}
-                value={searchString}
+                value={searchQuery}
                 onChange={handleSearchChange}
                 onKeyDown={handleSearchKeyDown}
               />
@@ -363,7 +364,7 @@ function NavBar() {
                 variant="outlined"
                 label="Search..."
                 style={{ marginTop: 10 }}
-                value={searchString}
+                value={searchQuery}
                 onChange={handleSearchChange}
                 onKeyDown={handleSearchKeyDown}
               />
diff --git a/frontend/src/hooks/useSearchNavigation.test.ts b/frontend/src/hooks/useSearchNavigation.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..01df14c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/hooks/useSearchNavigation.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import { renderHook } from "@testing-library/react";
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, test, vi } from "vitest";
+import { buildSearchPath, useSearchNavigation } from "./useSearchNavigation";
+
+const mockNavigate = vi.fn();
+vi.mock("react-router-dom", () => ({
+  useNavigate: () => mockNavigate,
+}));
+
+interface EncodingCase {
+  label: string;
+  input: string;
+  expected: string;
+}
+
+describe("buildSearchPath", () => {
+  test("builds a query-param path for a normal search string", () => {
+    expect(buildSearchPath("sol", false)).toBe("/search?q=sol");
+  });
+
+  test("includes exact=true when exact is requested", () => {
+    expect(buildSearchPath("sol", true)).toBe("/search?q=sol&exact=true");
+  });
+
+  test("does not collide with an empty search string and exact requested", () => {
+    expect(buildSearchPath("", true)).toBe("/search?q=&exact=true");
+  });
+
+  test.each<EncodingCase>([
+    {
+      label: "spaces and slashes",
+      input: "a b/c",
+      expected: "/search?q=a+b%2Fc",
+    },
+    {
+      label: "multibyte characters",
+      input: "ソル",
+      expected: "/search?q=%E3%82%BD%E3%83%AB",
+    },
+  ])("encodes special characters in the search string: $label", ({
+    input,
+    expected,
+  }) => {
+    expect(buildSearchPath(input, false)).toBe(expected);
+  });
+
+  test("regression: a literal 'exact' search string is not mistaken for the exact flag", () => {
+    expect(buildSearchPath("exact", false)).toBe("/search?q=exact");
+  });
+});
+
+describe("useSearchNavigation", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    mockNavigate.mockClear();
+  });
+
+  test("navigates to the path built from the given search string and exact flag", () => {
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useSearchNavigation());
+
+    result.current("sol", true);
+
+    expect(mockNavigate).toHaveBeenCalledWith("/search?q=sol&exact=true");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/hooks/useSearchNavigation.ts b/frontend/src/hooks/useSearchNavigation.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..baf94f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/hooks/useSearchNavigation.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import { useNavigate } from "react-router-dom";
+
+export function buildSearchPath(searchQuery: string, exact: boolean): string {
+  const params = new URLSearchParams({ q: searchQuery });
+  if (exact) {
+    params.set("exact", "true");
+  }
+  return `/search?${params.toString()}`;
+}
+
+export function useSearchNavigation() {
+  const navigate = useNavigate();
+
+  return (searchQuery: string, exact: boolean) =>
+    navigate(buildSearchPath(searchQuery, exact));
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/pages/Search.tsx b/frontend/src/pages/Search.tsx
index eb7a442..9908715 100644
--- a/frontend/src/pages/Search.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/pages/Search.tsx
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import TableHead from "@mui/material/TableHead";
 import TableRow from "@mui/material/TableRow";
 import Typography from "@mui/material/Typography";
 import { Suspense, use, useEffect, useState } from "react";
-import { Link, useParams } from "react-router-dom";
+import { Link, useSearchParams } from "react-router-dom";
 import type { PlayerSearchResponse } from "../interfaces/API";
 import { JSONParse } from "../utils/JSONParse";
 import { Utils } from "../utils/Utils";
@@ -18,13 +18,15 @@ import { Utils } from "../utils/Utils";
 const API_ENDPOINT = import.meta.env.VITE_API_ENDPOINT;
 
 function fetchSearchResults(
-  q: string | undefined,
-  exact: string | undefined,
+  q: string,
+  exact: boolean,
 ): Promise<{ results: PlayerSearchResponse[] }> {
   if (!q) return Promise.resolve({ results: [] });
 
-  const isExact = exact === "exact" ? "true" : "false";
-  const params = new URLSearchParams({ search_string: q, exact: isExact });
+  const params = new URLSearchParams({
+    search_string: q,
+    exact: String(exact),
+  });
 
   return fetch(`${API_ENDPOINT}/player/search?${params.toString()}`)
     .then((res) => res.text())
@@ -40,14 +42,14 @@ interface SearchResultsProps {
 }
 
 const SearchResultsLoader = ({
-  search_string,
+  searchQuery,
   exact,
 }: {
-  search_string: string | undefined;
-  exact: string | undefined;
+  searchQuery: string;
+  exact: boolean;
 }) => {
   const [resultsPromise] = useState(() =>
-    fetchSearchResults(search_string, exact),
+    fetchSearchResults(searchQuery, exact),
   );
   return (
     <Suspense fallback={<CircularProgress size={60} />}>
@@ -107,12 +109,14 @@ const SearchResults = ({ resultsPromise }: SearchResultsProps) => {
 };
 
 const Search = () => {
-  const { search_string, exact } = useParams();
+  const [searchParams] = useSearchParams();
+  const searchQuery = searchParams.get("q") ?? "";
+  const exact = searchParams.get("exact") === "true";
 
   // biome-ignore lint/correctness/useExhaustiveDependencies: trigger only
   useEffect(() => {
     window.scrollTo({ top: 0, behavior: "smooth" });
-  }, [search_string, exact]);
+  }, [searchQuery, exact]);
 
   return (
     <>
@@ -130,8 +134,8 @@ const Search = () => {
       </AppBar>
 
       <SearchResultsLoader
-        key={`${search_string}-${exact}`}
-        search_string={search_string}
+        key={`${searchQuery}-${exact}`}
+        searchQuery={searchQuery}
         exact={exact}
       />
     </>