diff --git a/api.search/src/org/netbeans/api/search/SearchPattern.java b/api.search/src/org/netbeans/api/search/SearchPattern.java
--- a/api.search/src/org/netbeans/api/search/SearchPattern.java
+++ b/api.search/src/org/netbeans/api/search/SearchPattern.java
@@ -69,13 +69,13 @@
         /**
          * Match the pattern literally.
          */
-        LITERAL(Bundle.LBL_MatchType_Literal(), 'r'),
+        LITERAL(Bundle.LBL_MatchType_Literal(), 'L'),
         /**
          * The pattern can contain basic wildcards, star (*) for any string and
          * questionaire (?) for any character. The escape character for these
          * wildcards is backslash (\).
          */
-        BASIC(Bundle.LBL_MatchType_Basic_Wildcards(), 'B'),
+        BASIC(Bundle.LBL_MatchType_Basic_Wildcards(), 'r'),
         /**
          * The pattern follows java.util.regex.Pattern syntax.
          */
@@ -102,13 +102,22 @@
                 case 'R':
                     return REGEXP;
                 case 'r':
+                    return BASIC;
+                case 'L':
                     return LITERAL;
-                case 'B':
+                default:
                     return BASIC;
-                default:
-                    return LITERAL;
             }
         }
+
+        private static boolean isCanonicalPatternFlag(char ch) {
+            for (MatchType mt : MatchType.values()) {
+                if (mt.getCanonicalPatternFlag() == ch) {
+                    return true;
+                }
+            }
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 
     /**
@@ -150,13 +159,14 @@
      * @param searchExpression non-null String of a searched text
      * @param wholeWords if true, only whole words were searched
      * @param matchCase if true, case sensitive search was preformed
-     * @param regExp if true, regular expression search was performed
+     * @param regExp if true, regular expression search was performed; if false,
+     * search with basic wildcards was performed
      * @return a new SearchPattern in accordance with given parameters
      */
     public static SearchPattern create(String searchExpression, boolean wholeWords,
             boolean matchCase, boolean regExp) {
         return new SearchPattern(searchExpression, wholeWords, matchCase,
-                regExp ? MatchType.REGEXP : MatchType.LITERAL);
+                regExp ? MatchType.REGEXP : MatchType.BASIC);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -320,7 +330,7 @@
         //format mrw-findwhat
         if (canonicalString == null
                 || Character.toUpperCase(canonicalString.charAt(0)) != 'M'
-                || Character.toUpperCase(canonicalString.charAt(1)) != 'R'
+                || !MatchType.isCanonicalPatternFlag(canonicalString.charAt(1))
                 || Character.toUpperCase(canonicalString.charAt(2)) != 'W'
                 || canonicalString.charAt(3) != '-') {
             return null;
diff --git a/api.search/test/unit/src/org/netbeans/api/search/SearchPatternTest.java b/api.search/test/unit/src/org/netbeans/api/search/SearchPatternTest.java
--- a/api.search/test/unit/src/org/netbeans/api/search/SearchPatternTest.java
+++ b/api.search/test/unit/src/org/netbeans/api/search/SearchPatternTest.java
@@ -55,6 +55,21 @@
         assertFalse(sp.isRegExp());
         assertTrue(sp.isWholeWords());
         assertEquals("Test", sp.getSearchExpression());
+        assertEquals(MatchType.BASIC, sp.getMatchType());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testManuallyParseRegexp() throws Exception {
+        String canString = "MRW-Test";
+        SearchPattern sp = SearchPattern.parsePattern(canString);
+        assertEquals(MatchType.REGEXP, sp.getMatchType());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testManuallyParseLiteral() throws Exception {
+        String canString = "MLW-Test";
+        SearchPattern sp = SearchPattern.parsePattern(canString);
+        assertEquals(MatchType.LITERAL, sp.getMatchType());
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -63,6 +78,12 @@
         String canString = sp.toCanonicalString();
         
         assertEquals("mRW-ta", canString);
+
+        sp = sp.changeMatchType(MatchType.BASIC);
+        assertEquals("mrW-ta", sp.toCanonicalString());
+
+        sp = sp.changeMatchType(MatchType.LITERAL);
+        assertEquals("mLW-ta", sp.toCanonicalString());
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -95,8 +116,8 @@
                 false, false, true).changeMatchType(MatchType.BASIC)
                 .getMatchType());
 
-        assertEquals("If not specified exactly, match type should be LITERAL",
-                MatchType.LITERAL, SearchPattern.create("test",
+        assertEquals("If not specified exactly, match type should be BASIC",
+                MatchType.BASIC, SearchPattern.create("test",
                 false, false, false).getMatchType());
     }
 }