diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/admin_email_select.js.coffee b/app/assets/javascripts/admin_email_select.js.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1802bc3392
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/admin_email_select.js.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+class @AdminEmailSelect
+  constructor: ->
+    $('.ajax-admin-email-select').each (i, select) =>
+      skip_ldap = $(select).hasClass('skip_ldap')
+
+      $(select).select2
+        placeholder: "Select group or project"
+        multiple: $(select).hasClass('multiselect')
+        minimumInputLength: 0
+        query: (query) ->
+          group_result = Api.groups query.term, skip_ldap, (groups) ->
+            groups
+
+          project_result = Api.projects query.term, (projects) ->
+            projects
+
+          $.when(project_result, group_result).done (projects, groups) ->
+            all = {id: "all"}
+            data = $.merge([all], groups[0], projects[0])
+            query.callback({ results: data})
+
+        id: (object) ->
+          if object.path_with_namespace
+            "project-#{object.id}"
+          else if object.path
+            "group-#{object.id}"
+          else
+            "all"
+
+        formatResult: (args...) =>
+          @formatResult(args...)
+        formatSelection: (args...) =>
+          @formatSelection(args...)
+        dropdownCssClass: "ajax-admin-email-dropdown"
+        escapeMarkup: (m) -> # we do not want to escape markup since we are displaying html in results
+          m
+
+  formatResult: (object) ->
+    if object.path_with_namespace
+      "<div class='project-result'>
+         <div class='project-name'>#{object.name}</div>
+         <div class='project-path'>#{object.path_with_namespace}</div>
+       </div>"
+    else if object.path
+      "<div class='group-result'>
+         <div class='group-name'>#{object.name}</div>
+         <div class='group-path'>#{object.path}</div>
+       </div>"
+    else
+      "<div class='group-result'>
+         <div class='group-name'>All</div>
+         <div class='group-path'>All groups and projects</div>
+       </div>"
+
+  formatSelection: (object) ->
+    if object.path_with_namespace
+      "Project: #{object.name}"
+    else if object.path
+      "Group: #{object.name}"
+    else
+      "All groups and projects"
+
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/api.js.coffee b/app/assets/javascripts/api.js.coffee
index 3d2f9d9653..5bccf4f169 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/api.js.coffee
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/api.js.coffee
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
   ldap_groups_path: "/api/:version/ldap/:provider/groups.json"
   namespaces_path: "/api/:version/namespaces.json"
   project_users_path: "/api/:version/projects/:id/users.json"
+  projects_path: "/api/:version/projects.json"
 
   # Get 20 (depends on api) recent notes
   # and sort the ascending from oldest to newest
@@ -132,3 +133,17 @@
       dataType: "json"
     ).done (groups) ->
       callback(groups)
+
+  # Return projects list. Filtered by query
+  projects: (query, callback) ->
+    project_url = Api.buildUrl(Api.projects_path)
+
+    project_query = $.ajax(
+      url: project_url
+      data:
+        private_token: gon.api_token
+        search: query
+        per_page: 20
+      dataType: "json"
+    ).done (projects) ->
+      callback(projects)
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/dispatcher.js.coffee b/app/assets/javascripts/dispatcher.js.coffee
index 39710a7982..ef0d1236b5 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/dispatcher.js.coffee
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/dispatcher.js.coffee
@@ -81,6 +81,8 @@ class Dispatcher
         new User()
       when 'projects:group_links:index'
         new GroupsSelect()
+      when 'admin:emails:show'
+        new AdminEmailSelect()
 
     switch path.first()
       when 'admin'
diff --git a/app/assets/stylesheets/generic/selects.scss b/app/assets/stylesheets/generic/selects.scss
index d85e80a512..5d2f054d8f 100644
--- a/app/assets/stylesheets/generic/selects.scss
+++ b/app/assets/stylesheets/generic/selects.scss
@@ -128,6 +128,15 @@ select {
   }
 }
 
+.project-result {
+  .project-name {
+    font-weight: bold;
+  }
+  .project-path {
+    color: #999;
+  }
+}
+
 .user-result {
   .user-image {
     float: left;
diff --git a/app/helpers/admin_email_helper.rb b/app/helpers/admin_email_helper.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 28dfe3f601..0000000000
--- a/app/helpers/admin_email_helper.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
-module AdminEmailHelper
-  def admin_email_grouped_recipient_options
-    options_for_select([['All GitLab users', 'all']]) +
-    grouped_options_for_select(
-      'Groups' => Group.pluck(:name, :id).map{ |name, id| [name, "group-#{id}"] },
-      'Projects' => grouped_project_list
-    )
-  end
-
-  protected
-  def grouped_project_list
-    Group.includes(:projects).flat_map do |group|
-      group.human_name
-      group.projects.map do |project|
-        ["#{group.human_name} / #{project.name}", "project-#{project.id}"]
-      end
-    end
-  end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/helpers/selects_helper.rb b/app/helpers/selects_helper.rb
index 475450781f..81871761f4 100644
--- a/app/helpers/selects_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/selects_helper.rb
@@ -35,4 +35,13 @@ module SelectsHelper
 
     hidden_field_tag(id, value, class: css_class)
   end
+
+  def admin_email_select_tag(id, opts = {})
+    css_class = "ajax-admin-email-select "
+    css_class << "multiselect " if opts[:multiple]
+    css_class << (opts[:class] || '')
+    value = opts[:selected] || ''
+
+    hidden_field_tag(id, value, class: css_class)
+  end
 end
diff --git a/app/views/admin/emails/show.html.haml b/app/views/admin/emails/show.html.haml
index 58bd208409..90e4e3aa2f 100644
--- a/app/views/admin/emails/show.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/admin/emails/show.html.haml
@@ -17,6 +17,6 @@
   .form-group
     %label.control-label{for: :recipients} Recipient group
     .col-sm-10
-      = select_tag :recipients, admin_email_grouped_recipient_options, class: :select2, required: true
+      = admin_email_select_tag(:recipients)
   .form-actions
     = submit_tag 'Send message', class: 'btn btn-create'
diff --git a/app/workers/admin_emails_worker.rb b/app/workers/admin_emails_worker.rb
index 56d83d7ebe..3801456eef 100644
--- a/app/workers/admin_emails_worker.rb
+++ b/app/workers/admin_emails_worker.rb
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ class AdminEmailsWorker
   end
 
   private
+
   def recipient_list(recipient_id)
     case recipient_id
     when 'all'
@@ -18,4 +19,4 @@ class AdminEmailsWorker
       Project.find($1).team.users.subscribed_for_admin_email
     end
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end
diff --git a/features/admin/emails.feature b/features/admin/emails.feature
index 0ad5a6866a..cf22e36d7b 100644
--- a/features/admin/emails.feature
+++ b/features/admin/emails.feature
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-@admin
 Feature: Admin email
   Background:
     Given I sign in as an admin
     And there are groups with projects
 
+  @javascript
   Scenario: Create a new email notification
     Given I visit admin email page
     When I submit form with email notification info
diff --git a/features/steps/admin/email.rb b/features/steps/admin/email.rb
index 73a2daba06..996a3d0309 100644
--- a/features/steps/admin/email.rb
+++ b/features/steps/admin/email.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,16 @@ class Spinach::Features::AdminEmail < Spinach::FeatureSteps
     within('form#new-admin-email') do
       fill_in :subject, with: 'my subject'
       fill_in :body, with: @email_text
-      select @selected_group.name, from: :recipients
+
+      # Note: Unable to use select2 helper because
+      # the helper uses select2 method "val" to select the group from the dropdown
+      # and the method "val" requires "initSelection" to be used in the select2 call
+      select2_container = first("#s2id_recipients")
+      select2_container.find(".select2-choice").click
+      find(:xpath, "//body").find("input.select2-input").set(@selected_group.name)
+      page.execute_script(%|$("input.select2-input:visible").keyup();|)
+      find(:xpath, "//body").find(".group-name", text: @selected_group.name).click
+
       find('.btn-create').click
     end
   end
diff --git a/lib/api/projects.rb b/lib/api/projects.rb
index d08c758fb9..4d70f97ac1 100644
--- a/lib/api/projects.rb
+++ b/lib/api/projects.rb
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ module API
           @projects = @projects.where(archived: parse_boolean(params[:archived]))
         end
 
+        if params[:search].present?
+          @projects = @projects.search(params[:search])
+        end
+
         @projects = paginate @projects
         present @projects, with: Entities::Project
       end