Index: src/main/java/com/xpn/xwiki/plugin/ldap/XWikiLDAPUtils.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/com/xpn/xwiki/plugin/ldap/XWikiLDAPUtils.java	(revision 17444)
+++ src/main/java/com/xpn/xwiki/plugin/ldap/XWikiLDAPUtils.java	(working copy)
@@ -109,6 +109,11 @@
     private String baseDN = "";
 
     /**
+     * LDAP search format string.
+     */
+    private String userSearchFormatString = "({0}={1})";
+
+    /**
      * Create an instance of {@link XWikiLDAPUtils}.
      * 
      * @param connection the XWiki LDAP connection tool.
@@ -151,6 +156,22 @@
     }
 
     /**
+     * @param fmt the user search format string.
+     */
+    public void setUserSearchFormatString(String fmt)
+    {
+        this.userSearchFormatString = fmt;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return the user search format string.
+     */
+    public String getUserSearchFormatString()
+    {
+        return this.userSearchFormatString;
+    }
+
+    /**
      * @param groupClasses the different LDAP implementations groups classes names.
      */
     public void setGroupClasses(Collection<String> groupClasses)
@@ -538,7 +559,7 @@
     public List<XWikiLDAPSearchAttribute> searchUserAttributesByUid(String uid, String[] attributeNameTable)
     {
         // search for the user in LDAP
-        String query = MessageFormat.format("({0}={1})", new Object[] {this.uidAttributeName, uid});
+        String query = MessageFormat.format(this.userSearchFormatString, new Object[] {this.uidAttributeName, uid});
 
         if (LOG.isDebugEnabled()) {
             LOG.debug("Searching for the user in LDAP: user:" + uid + " base:" + this.baseDN + " query:" + query
Index: src/main/java/com/xpn/xwiki/user/impl/LDAP/XWikiLDAPAuthServiceImpl.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/com/xpn/xwiki/user/impl/LDAP/XWikiLDAPAuthServiceImpl.java	(revision 17444)
+++ src/main/java/com/xpn/xwiki/user/impl/LDAP/XWikiLDAPAuthServiceImpl.java	(working copy)
@@ -284,6 +284,7 @@
         ldapUtils.setGroupClasses(config.getGroupClasses(context));
         ldapUtils.setGroupMemberFields(config.getGroupMemberFields(context));
         ldapUtils.setBaseDN(config.getLDAPParam("ldap_base_DN", "", context));
+        ldapUtils.setUserSearchFormatString(config.getLDAPParam("ldap_user_search_fmt", "({0}={1})", context));
 
         // ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
         // 1. check if ldap authentication is off => authenticate against db