diff --git a/src/SmartRegexpFactory.py b/src/SmartRegexpFactory.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..48d5d3d08c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/SmartRegexpFactory.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import re
+
+
+# adapted from function _fnFilterCreateSearch() defined in https://github.com/DataTables/DataTablesSrc/blob/master/js/core/core.filter.js
+class SmartRegexpFactory:
+
+    def createSmartRegexp(self, searchTerm):
+        return re.compile(
+            rf'^{self.assertContainsWords(self.getWords(searchTerm))}.*$',
+            flags=re.IGNORECASE)
+
+    def getWords(self, searchTerm):
+        return re.split(r'\s+', searchTerm)
+
+    def assertContainsWords(self, words):
+        return ''.join([self.assertContainsWord(word) for word in words])
+
+    def assertContainsWord(self, word):
+        return f'(?=.*?{word})'
diff --git a/src/SmartSearch.py b/src/SmartSearch.py
index d4a8d6ec1ca..c4b9e76772f 100644
--- a/src/SmartSearch.py
+++ b/src/SmartSearch.py
@@ -1,25 +1,11 @@
 import re
+from SmartRegexpFactory import SmartRegexpFactory
 
 
 class SmartSearch:
 
     def __init__(self, searchTerm):
-        self.regexp = _SmartRegexpFactory().createSmartRegexp(searchTerm)
+        self.smartRegexp = SmartRegexpFactory().createSmartRegexp(searchTerm)
 
     def matches(self, str):
-        return True if re.match(self.regexp, str, flags=re.IGNORECASE) else False
-
-
-class _SmartRegexpFactory:
-
-    def createSmartRegexp(self, searchTerm):
-        return rf'^{self.assertContainsWords(self.getWords(searchTerm))}.*$'
-
-    def getWords(self, searchTerm):
-        return re.split(r'\s+', searchTerm)
-
-    def assertContainsWords(self, words):
-        return ''.join([self.assertContainsWord(word) for word in words])
-
-    def assertContainsWord(self, word):
-        return f'(?=.*?{word})'
+        return True if self.smartRegexp.match(str) else False