diff --git a/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module b/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
index e147c1c..17caac1 100644
--- a/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
+++ b/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
@@ -1470,6 +1470,7 @@ function taxonomy_field_widget_info() {
       'label' => t('Autocomplete term widget (tagging)'),
       'field types' => array('taxonomy_term_reference'),
       'settings' => array(
+        'match_operator' => 'CONTAINS',
         'size' => 60,
         'autocomplete_path' => 'taxonomy/autocomplete',
       ),
@@ -1738,7 +1739,7 @@ function taxonomy_field_widget_form(&$form, &$form_state, $field, $instance, $la
   $element += array(
     '#type' => 'textfield',
     '#default_value' => taxonomy_implode_tags($tags),
-    '#autocomplete_path' => $instance['widget']['settings']['autocomplete_path'] . '/' . $field['field_name'],
+    '#autocomplete_path' => $instance['widget']['settings']['autocomplete_path'] . '/' . $field['field_name'] . '/' . $instance['entity_type'] . '/' . $instance['bundle'],
     '#size' => $instance['widget']['settings']['size'],
     '#maxlength' => 1024,
     '#element_validate' => array('taxonomy_autocomplete_validate'),
@@ -1748,6 +1749,36 @@ function taxonomy_field_widget_form(&$form, &$form_state, $field, $instance, $la
 }
 
 /**
+ * Implements hook_field_widget_settings_form().
+ */
+function taxonomy_field_widget_settings_form($field, $instance) {
+  $widget = $instance['widget'];
+  $settings = $widget['settings'];
+
+  if ($widget['type'] == 'taxonomy_autocomplete') {
+    $form['match_operator'] = array(
+      '#type' => 'radios',
+      '#title' => t('Autocomplete matching'),
+      '#default_value' => $settings['match_operator'],
+      '#options' => array(
+        'STARTS_WITH' => t('Starts with'),
+        'CONTAINS' => t('Contains'),
+      ),
+      '#description' => t('Select the method used to collect autocomplete suggestions. Note that <em>Contains</em> can cause performance issues on sites with thousands of entities.'),
+    );
+    $form['size'] = array(
+      '#type' => 'textfield',
+      '#title' => t('Size of textfield'),
+      '#default_value' => $settings['size'],
+      '#required' => TRUE,
+      '#element_validate' => array('element_validate_integer_positive'),
+    );
+  }
+
+  return $form;
+}
+
+/**
  * Form element validate handler for taxonomy term autocomplete element.
  */
 function taxonomy_autocomplete_validate($element, &$form_state) {
diff --git a/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc b/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc
index 975ff12..720b905 100644
--- a/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc
+++ b/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc
@@ -122,6 +122,13 @@ function taxonomy_autocomplete($field_name = '', $tags_typed = '') {
   // If the request has a '/' in the search text, then the menu system will have
   // split it into multiple arguments, recover the intended $tags_typed.
   $args = func_get_args();
+  if (count($args) > 2) {
+    $entity_type = $args[1];
+    $bundle = $args[2];
+    array_shift($args);
+    array_shift($args);
+  }
+  
   // Shift off the $field_name argument.
   array_shift($args);
   $tags_typed = implode('/', $args);
@@ -148,6 +155,24 @@ function taxonomy_autocomplete($field_name = '', $tags_typed = '') {
       $vids[] = $vocabularies[$tree['vocabulary']]->vid;
     }
 
+    if (!empty($entity_type)) {
+        $instance = field_info_instance($entity_type, $field_name, $bundle);
+        $match_operator = $instance['widget']['settings']['match_operator'];
+    }
+		
+    switch ($match_operator) {
+      case 'STARTS_WITH':
+        $condition_pattern = db_like($tag_last) . '%';
+        break;
+
+      case 'CONTAINS':
+        $condition_pattern = '%' . db_like($tag_last) . '%';
+        break;
+    
+      default:
+        $condition_pattern = '%' . db_like($tag_last) . '%';
+    }
+
     $query = db_select('taxonomy_term_data', 't');
     $query->addTag('translatable');
     $query->addTag('term_access');
@@ -160,7 +185,7 @@ function taxonomy_autocomplete($field_name = '', $tags_typed = '') {
     $tags_return = $query
       ->fields('t', array('tid', 'name'))
       ->condition('t.vid', $vids)
-      ->condition('t.name', '%' . db_like($tag_last) . '%', 'LIKE')
+      ->condition('t.name', $condition_pattern, 'LIKE')
       ->range(0, 10)
       ->execute()
       ->fetchAllKeyed();