diff --git a/wagtail/contrib/postgres_search/backend.py b/wagtail/contrib/postgres_search/backend.py
index df8d79df5d..83c2ad16de 100644
--- a/wagtail/contrib/postgres_search/backend.py
+++ b/wagtail/contrib/postgres_search/backend.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from django.db.models.functions import Cast
 from django.utils.encoding import force_text
 
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.backends.base import (
-    BaseSearchBackend, BaseSearchQuery, BaseSearchResults)
+    BaseSearchBackend, SearchQueryCompiler, BaseSearchResults)
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.index import RelatedFields, SearchField
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.query import MatchAll, PlainText
 
@@ -167,11 +167,11 @@ class Index(object):
         return self.name
 
 
-class PostgresSearchQuery(BaseSearchQuery):
+class PostgresSearchQueryCompiler(SearchQueryCompiler):
     DEFAULT_OPERATOR = 'and'
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        super(PostgresSearchQuery, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        super(PostgresSearchQueryCompiler, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
         self.search_fields = self.queryset.model.get_search_fields()
 
     def get_search_query(self, config):
@@ -235,11 +235,11 @@ class PostgresSearchQuery(BaseSearchQuery):
 
 class PostgresSearchResults(BaseSearchResults):
     def _do_search(self):
-        return list(self.query.search(self.backend.get_config(),
-                                      self.start, self.stop))
+        return list(self.query_compiler.search(self.backend.get_config(),
+                                               self.start, self.stop))
 
     def _do_count(self):
-        return self.query.search(self.backend.get_config(), None, None).count()
+        return self.query_compiler.search(self.backend.get_config(), None, None).count()
 
 
 class PostgresSearchRebuilder:
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ class PostgresSearchAtomicRebuilder(PostgresSearchRebuilder):
 
 
 class PostgresSearchBackend(BaseSearchBackend):
-    query_class = PostgresSearchQuery
+    query_compiler_class = PostgresSearchQueryCompiler
     results_class = PostgresSearchResults
     rebuilder_class = PostgresSearchRebuilder
     atomic_rebuilder_class = PostgresSearchAtomicRebuilder
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/base.py b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/base.py
index 5b65923606..55d7b39191 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/base.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/base.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ class FieldError(Exception):
     pass
 
 
-class BaseSearchQuery(object):
+class SearchQueryCompiler(object):
     DEFAULT_OPERATOR = 'or'
 
     def __init__(self, queryset, query, fields=None, operator=None, order_by_relevance=True):
@@ -104,9 +104,9 @@ class BaseSearchQuery(object):
 
 
 class BaseSearchResults(object):
-    def __init__(self, backend, query, prefetch_related=None):
+    def __init__(self, backend, query_compiler, prefetch_related=None):
         self.backend = backend
-        self.query = query
+        self.query_compiler = query_compiler
         self.prefetch_related = prefetch_related
         self.start = 0
         self.stop = None
@@ -129,7 +129,8 @@ class BaseSearchResults(object):
 
     def _clone(self):
         klass = self.__class__
-        new = klass(self.backend, self.query, prefetch_related=self.prefetch_related)
+        new = klass(self.backend, self.query_compiler,
+                    prefetch_related=self.prefetch_related)
         new.start = self.start
         new.stop = self.stop
         new._score_field = self._score_field
@@ -209,7 +210,7 @@ class EmptySearchResults(BaseSearchResults):
 
 
 class BaseSearchBackend(object):
-    query_class = None
+    query_compiler_class = None
     results_class = None
     rebuilder_class = None
 
@@ -285,7 +286,7 @@ class BaseSearchBackend(object):
                 raise ValueError("operator must be either 'or' or 'and'")
 
         # Search
-        search_query = self.query_class(
+        search_query = self.query_compiler_class(
             queryset, query_string, fields=fields, operator=operator, order_by_relevance=order_by_relevance
         )
         return self.results_class(self, search_query)
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/db.py b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/db.py
index 1dbcdd3252..4aa9f40d57 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/db.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/db.py
@@ -4,11 +4,11 @@ from django.db import models
 from django.db.models.expressions import Value
 
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.backends.base import (
-    BaseSearchBackend, BaseSearchQuery, BaseSearchResults)
+    BaseSearchBackend, SearchQueryCompiler, BaseSearchResults)
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.query import MatchAll, PlainText
 
 
-class DatabaseSearchQuery(BaseSearchQuery):
+class DatabaseSearchQueryCompiler(SearchQueryCompiler):
     DEFAULT_OPERATOR = 'and'
 
     def _process_lookup(self, field, lookup, value):
@@ -78,8 +78,8 @@ class DatabaseSearchQuery(BaseSearchQuery):
 
 class DatabaseSearchResults(BaseSearchResults):
     def get_queryset(self):
-        queryset = self.query.queryset
-        q = self.query.get_extra_q()
+        queryset = self.query_compiler.queryset
+        q = self.query_compiler.get_extra_q()
 
         return queryset.filter(q).distinct()[self.start:self.stop]
 
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ class DatabaseSearchResults(BaseSearchResults):
 
 
 class DatabaseSearchBackend(BaseSearchBackend):
-    query_class = DatabaseSearchQuery
+    query_compiler_class = DatabaseSearchQueryCompiler
     results_class = DatabaseSearchResults
 
     def reset_index(self):
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch2.py b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch2.py
index e65e9f912a..3e59f2c589 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch2.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch2.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ from elasticsearch.helpers import bulk
 
 from wagtail.utils.utils import deep_update
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.backends.base import (
-    BaseSearchBackend, BaseSearchQuery, BaseSearchResults)
+    BaseSearchBackend, SearchQueryCompiler, BaseSearchResults)
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.index import (
     FilterField, Indexed, RelatedFields, SearchField, class_is_indexed)
 from wagtail.wagtailsearch.query import MatchAll, PlainText
@@ -261,12 +261,12 @@ class Elasticsearch2Mapping(object):
         return '<ElasticsearchMapping: %s>' % (self.model.__name__, )
 
 
-class Elasticsearch2SearchQuery(BaseSearchQuery):
+class Elasticsearch2SearchQueryCompiler(SearchQueryCompiler):
     mapping_class = Elasticsearch2Mapping
     DEFAULT_OPERATOR = 'or'
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        super(Elasticsearch2SearchQuery, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        super(Elasticsearch2SearchQueryCompiler, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
         self.mapping = self.mapping_class(self.queryset.model)
 
         # Convert field names into index column names
@@ -496,11 +496,11 @@ class Elasticsearch2SearchResults(BaseSearchResults):
 
     def _get_es_body(self, for_count=False):
         body = {
-            'query': self.query.get_query()
+            'query': self.query_compiler.get_query()
         }
 
         if not for_count:
-            sort = self.query.get_sort()
+            sort = self.query_compiler.get_sort()
 
             if sort is not None:
                 body['sort'] = sort
@@ -519,7 +519,7 @@ class Elasticsearch2SearchResults(BaseSearchResults):
         results = {str(pk): None for pk in pks}
 
         # Find objects in database and add them to dict
-        for obj in self.query.queryset.filter(pk__in=pks):
+        for obj in self.query_compiler.queryset.filter(pk__in=pks):
             results[str(obj.pk)] = obj
 
             if self._score_field:
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@ class Elasticsearch2SearchResults(BaseSearchResults):
         use_scroll = limit is None or limit > PAGE_SIZE
 
         params = {
-            'index': self.backend.get_index_for_model(self.query.queryset.model).name,
+            'index': self.backend.get_index_for_model(self.query_compiler.queryset.model).name,
             'body': self._get_es_body(),
             '_source': False,
             self.fields_param_name: 'pk',
@@ -611,7 +611,7 @@ class Elasticsearch2SearchResults(BaseSearchResults):
     def _do_count(self):
         # Get count
         hit_count = self.backend.es.count(
-            index=self.backend.get_index_for_model(self.query.queryset.model).name,
+            index=self.backend.get_index_for_model(self.query_compiler.queryset.model).name,
             body=self._get_es_body(for_count=True),
         )['count']
 
@@ -819,7 +819,7 @@ class ElasticsearchAtomicIndexRebuilder(ElasticsearchIndexRebuilder):
 
 class Elasticsearch2SearchBackend(BaseSearchBackend):
     index_class = Elasticsearch2Index
-    query_class = Elasticsearch2SearchQuery
+    query_compiler_class = Elasticsearch2SearchQueryCompiler
     results_class = Elasticsearch2SearchResults
     mapping_class = Elasticsearch2Mapping
     basic_rebuilder_class = ElasticsearchIndexRebuilder
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch5.py b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch5.py
index 92e7be5351..148ff5370d 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch5.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailsearch/backends/elasticsearch5.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ from __future__ import absolute_import, unicode_literals
 
 from .elasticsearch2 import (
     Elasticsearch2Index, Elasticsearch2Mapping, Elasticsearch2SearchBackend,
-    Elasticsearch2SearchQuery, Elasticsearch2SearchResults)
+    Elasticsearch2SearchQueryCompiler, Elasticsearch2SearchResults)
 
 
 class Elasticsearch5Mapping(Elasticsearch2Mapping):
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class Elasticsearch5Index(Elasticsearch2Index):
     pass
 
 
-class Elasticsearch5SearchQuery(Elasticsearch2SearchQuery):
+class Elasticsearch5SearchQuery(Elasticsearch2SearchQueryCompiler):
     mapping_class = Elasticsearch5Mapping
 
     def _connect_filters(self, filters, connector, negated):
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ class Elasticsearch5SearchResults(Elasticsearch2SearchResults):
 class Elasticsearch5SearchBackend(Elasticsearch2SearchBackend):
     mapping_class = Elasticsearch5Mapping
     index_class = Elasticsearch5Index
-    query_class = Elasticsearch5SearchQuery
+    query_compiler_class = Elasticsearch5SearchQuery
     results_class = Elasticsearch5SearchResults