diff --git a/app/helpers/search_helper.rb b/app/helpers/search_helper.rb
index 37b213a31859b6be51434e37d3057b843e921e57..1a9ac8d8206efd38471ea920669fa8a5c2694976 100644
--- a/app/helpers/search_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/search_helper.rb
@@ -356,9 +356,8 @@ def users_autocomplete(term, limit = 5)
     return [] unless current_user && Ability.allowed?(current_user, :read_users_list)
 
     SearchService
-      .new(current_user, { scope: 'users', search: term })
+      .new(current_user, { scope: 'users', per_page: limit, search: term })
       .search_objects
-      .limit(limit)
       .map do |user|
       {
         category: "Users",
diff --git a/spec/helpers/search_helper_spec.rb b/spec/helpers/search_helper_spec.rb
index 0450ecc0f21d1358361f6b64dc394503790332bc..3d98591ac76d79ffe943c4fe683f55dedd17f802 100644
--- a/spec/helpers/search_helper_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/helpers/search_helper_spec.rb
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 require 'spec_helper'
 
-RSpec.describe SearchHelper do
+RSpec.describe SearchHelper, feature_category: :global_search do
   include MarkupHelper
   include BadgesHelper
 
@@ -65,7 +65,8 @@ def simple_sanitize(str)
         let(:term) { 'jane' }
 
         it 'makes a call to SearchService' do
-          expect(SearchService).to receive(:new).with(current_user, { search: term, scope: 'users' }).and_call_original
+          params = { search: term, per_page: 5, scope: 'users' }
+          expect(SearchService).to receive(:new).with(current_user, params).and_call_original
 
           search_autocomplete_opts(term)
         end
@@ -86,6 +87,15 @@ def simple_sanitize(str)
             expect(search_autocomplete_opts(term)).to eq([])
           end
         end
+
+        context 'with limiting' do
+          let!(:users) { create_list(:user, 6, name: 'Jane Doe') }
+
+          it 'only returns the first 5 users' do
+            result = search_autocomplete_opts(term)
+            expect(result.size).to eq(5)
+          end
+        end
       end
 
       it "includes the required project attrs" do