diff --git a/tests/visual/menu/contextmenu.html b/tests/visual/menu/contextmenu.html
index 03e21fdc3..dae366158 100644
--- a/tests/visual/menu/contextmenu.html
+++ b/tests/visual/menu/contextmenu.html
@@ -51,39 +51,7 @@
 				menu.widget().hide();
 				break;
 			default:
-				clearTimeout(menu.filterTimer);
-				var prev = menu.previousFilter || "";
-				var character = String.fromCharCode(event.keyCode);
-				var skip = false;
-				if (character == prev) {
-					skip = true;
-				} else {
-					character = prev + character;
-				}
 				
-				var match = menu.widget().children("li").filter(function() {
-					return new RegExp("^" + character, "i").test($(this).text());
-				});
-				var match = skip && match.index(menu.active.next()) != -1 ? match.next() : match;
-				if (!match.length) {
-					character = String.fromCharCode(event.keyCode);
-					match = menu.widget().children("li").filter(function() {
-						return new RegExp("^" + character, "i").test($(this).text());
-					});
-				}
-				if (match.length) {
-					menu.focus(event, match);
-					if (match.length > 1) {
-						menu.previousFilter = character;
-						menu.filterTimer = setTimeout(function() {
-							delete menu.previousFilter;
-						}, 1000);
-					} else {
-						delete menu.previousFilter;
-					}
-				} else {
-					delete menu.previousFilter;
-				}
 			}
 		});
 	});
diff --git a/tests/visual/menu/menu.html b/tests/visual/menu/menu.html
index ec31a0f96..395a06bdf 100644
--- a/tests/visual/menu/menu.html
+++ b/tests/visual/menu/menu.html
@@ -50,7 +50,9 @@
 	<li><a href="#">Ada</a></li>
 	<li><a href="#">Adamsville</a></li>
 	<li><a href="#">Addyston</a></li>
-	<li><a href="#">Adelphi</a></li>
+	<li><a href="#">Delphi</a></li>
+	<li><a href="#">Saarland</a></li>
+	<li><a href="#">Salzburg</a></li>
 </ul>
 
 <ul id="menu2">
diff --git a/ui/jquery.ui.menu.js b/ui/jquery.ui.menu.js
index 346d1a982..cc221f943 100644
--- a/ui/jquery.ui.menu.js
+++ b/ui/jquery.ui.menu.js
@@ -87,6 +87,42 @@ $.widget("ui.menu", {
 				event.preventDefault();
 				event.stopImmediatePropagation();
 				break;
+			default:
+				clearTimeout(self.filterTimer);
+				var prev = self.previousFilter || "";
+				var character = String.fromCharCode(event.keyCode);
+				var skip = false;
+				if (character == prev) {
+					skip = true;
+				} else {
+					character = prev + character;
+				}
+				function escape(value) {
+					return value.replace(/[-[\]{}()*+?.,\\^$|#\s]/g, "\\$&");
+				}
+				var match = self.widget().children(".ui-menu-item").filter(function() {
+					return new RegExp("^" + escape(character), "i").test($(this).text());
+				});
+				var match = skip && match.index(self.active.next()) != -1 ? self.active.nextAll(".ui-menu-item") : match;
+				if (!match.length) {
+					character = String.fromCharCode(event.keyCode);
+					match = self.widget().children(".ui-menu-item").filter(function() {
+						return new RegExp("^" + escape(character), "i").test($(this).text());
+					});
+				}
+				if (match.length) {
+					self.focus(event, match);
+					if (match.length > 1) {
+						self.previousFilter = character;
+						self.filterTimer = setTimeout(function() {
+							delete self.previousFilter;
+						}, 1000);
+					} else {
+						delete self.previousFilter;
+					}
+				} else {
+					delete self.previousFilter;
+				}
 			}
 		});
 	},