diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/metadata/single_download.py b/src/calibre/gui2/metadata/single_download.py
index 90daba3e10..e674f56629 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/metadata/single_download.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/metadata/single_download.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ from PyQt5.Qt import (
 from PyQt5.QtWebKitWidgets import QWebView
 
 from calibre.customize.ui import metadata_plugins
-from calibre.ebooks.metadata import authors_to_string
+from calibre.ebooks.metadata import authors_to_string, rating_to_stars
 from calibre.utils.logging import GUILog as Log
 from calibre.ebooks.metadata.sources.identify import urls_from_identifiers
 from calibre.ebooks.metadata.book.base import Metadata
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ class ResultsView(QTableView):  # {{{
                 parts.append('<div>%s: %s</div>'%series)
         if not book.is_null('rating'):
             style = 'style=\'font-family:"%s"\''%f
-            parts.append('<div %s>%s</div>'%(style, '\u2605'*int(book.rating)))
+            parts.append('<div %s>%s</div>'%(style, rating_to_stars(int(book.rating))))
         parts.append('</center>')
         if book.identifiers:
             urls = urls_from_identifiers(book.identifiers)
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/tag_browser/model.py b/src/calibre/gui2/tag_browser/model.py
index 8cac93e9bc..456004f126 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/tag_browser/model.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/tag_browser/model.py
@@ -1351,7 +1351,7 @@ class TagsModel(QAbstractItemModel):  # {{{
                     if self.db.field_metadata[tag.category]['is_csp']:
                         add_colon = True
 
-                    if tag.name and tag.name[0] == u'\u2605':  # char is a star. Assume rating
+                    if tag.name and tag.name[0] in u'★½':  # char is a star or a half. Assume rating
                         ans.append('%s%s:%s'%(prefix, category, len(tag.name)))
                     else:
                         name = tag.original_name
diff --git a/src/pyj/book_list/search.pyj b/src/pyj/book_list/search.pyj
index 180ba57004..8a53314365 100644
--- a/src/pyj/book_list/search.pyj
+++ b/src/pyj/book_list/search.pyj
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ class SearchPanel:
             return expr
 
         category = 'tags' if item.category is 'news' else item.category
-        if item.name and item.name[0] is '★':
+        if item.name and item.name[0] in '★½':
             # Assume ratings
             expr = '{}:{}'.format(category, item.name.length)
         else: