Index: src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/core/query/lucene/LuceneQueryBuilder.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/core/query/lucene/LuceneQueryBuilder.java	(revision 1002043)
+++ src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/core/query/lucene/LuceneQueryBuilder.java	(working copy)
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@
 import org.apache.lucene.index.Term;
 import org.apache.lucene.queryParser.ParseException;
 import org.apache.lucene.queryParser.QueryParser;
+import org.apache.lucene.search.BooleanClause;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.BooleanQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.Query;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.BooleanClause.Occur;
@@ -265,7 +266,28 @@
         Object[] result = node.acceptOperands(this, null);
         for (Object aResult : result) {
             Query operand = (Query) aResult;
-            orQuery.add(operand, Occur.SHOULD);
+            if (operand instanceof BooleanQuery) {
+                // check if the clauses are all optional, then
+                // we can collapse into the the enclosing orQuery
+                boolean hasNonOptional = false;
+                for (BooleanClause clause : ((BooleanQuery) operand).getClauses()) {
+                    if (clause.isProhibited() || clause.isRequired()) {
+                        hasNonOptional = true;
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+                if (hasNonOptional) {
+                    // cannot collapse
+                    orQuery.add(operand, Occur.SHOULD);
+                } else {
+                    // collapse
+                    for (BooleanClause clause : ((BooleanQuery) operand).getClauses()) {
+                        orQuery.add(clause);
+                    }
+                }
+            } else {
+                orQuery.add(operand, Occur.SHOULD);
+            }
         }
         return orQuery;
     }
Index: src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/core/query/FulltextQueryTest.java
===================================================================
--- src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/core/query/FulltextQueryTest.java	(revision 1002043)
+++ src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/core/query/FulltextQueryTest.java	(working copy)
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@
 package org.apache.jackrabbit.core.query;
 
 import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
 
 import javax.jcr.Node;
 import javax.jcr.RepositoryException;
@@ -24,7 +27,10 @@
 import javax.jcr.query.InvalidQueryException;
 import javax.jcr.query.Query;
 import javax.jcr.query.QueryResult;
+import javax.jcr.query.Row;
 
+import org.apache.jackrabbit.commons.iterator.RowIterable;
+
 /**
  * Performs tests with the <code>CONTAINS</code> function.
  */
@@ -267,6 +273,46 @@
         executeContainsQuery("foo:bar", "foo:bar", true);
     }
 
+    public void testMultipleOrExpressions() throws RepositoryException {
+        Node n = testRootNode.addNode("node1");
+        n.setProperty("prop1", "foo");
+        n.setProperty("prop2", "bar");
+        n.setProperty("prop3", "baz");
+
+        n = testRootNode.addNode("node2");
+        n.setProperty("prop1", "bar");
+        n.setProperty("prop2", "foo");
+        n.setProperty("prop3", "baz");
+
+        n = testRootNode.addNode("node3");
+        n.setProperty("prop1", "bar");
+        n.setProperty("prop2", "baz");
+        n.setProperty("prop3", "foo");
+
+        superuser.save();
+
+        List<String> r1 = new ArrayList<String>();
+        QueryResult result = qm.createQuery(testPath + "/*[jcr:contains(@prop1, 'foo') or jcr:contains(@prop2, 'foo') or jcr:contains(@prop3, 'foo')] order by @jcr:score descending", Query.XPATH).execute();
+        for (Row r : new RowIterable(result.getRows())) {
+            r1.add(r.getPath() + ":" + (int) (r.getScore() * 1000));
+        }
+
+        List<String> r2 = new ArrayList<String>();
+        result = qm.createQuery(testPath + "/*[jcr:contains(@prop3, 'foo') or jcr:contains(@prop1, 'foo') or jcr:contains(@prop2, 'foo')] order by @jcr:score descending", Query.XPATH).execute();
+        for (Row r : new RowIterable(result.getRows())) {
+            r2.add(r.getPath() + ":" + (int) (r.getScore() * 1000));
+        }
+
+        List<String> r3 = new ArrayList<String>();
+        result = qm.createQuery(testPath + "/*[jcr:contains(@prop2, 'foo') or jcr:contains(@prop3, 'foo') or jcr:contains(@prop1, 'foo')] order by @jcr:score descending", Query.XPATH).execute();
+        for (Row r : new RowIterable(result.getRows())) {
+            r3.add(r.getPath() + ":" + (int) (r.getScore() * 1000));
+        }
+
+        assertEquals(r1, r2);
+        assertEquals(r1, r3);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Executes a query and checks if the query matched the test node.
      *