diff --git a/src/traversing.js b/src/traversing.js
index 1f38d68cd..0d76038ca 100644
--- a/src/traversing.js
+++ b/src/traversing.js
@@ -12,39 +12,46 @@ var runtil = /Until$/,
 
 jQuery.fn.extend({
 	find: function( selector ) {
-		var i, l, length, n, r, ret,
-			self = this;
+		var prevLength, n, r, ret,
+			i = 0,
+			self = this,
+			selfLength = this.length;
 
 		if ( typeof selector !== "string" ) {
-			return jQuery( selector ).filter(function() {
-				for ( i = 0, l = self.length; i < l; i++ ) {
+
+			ret = jQuery( selector ).filter(function() {
+				for ( ; i < selfLength; i++ ) {
 					if ( jQuery.contains( self[ i ], this ) ) {
 						return true;
 					}
 				}
 			});
-		}
 
-		ret = this.pushStack( [] );
+		} else {
 
-		for ( i = 0, l = this.length; i < l; i++ ) {
-			length = ret.length;
-			jQuery.find( selector, this[i], ret );
+			ret = [];
+			for ( ; i < selfLength; i++ ) {
+				prevLength = ret.length;
+				jQuery.find( selector, this[ i ], ret );
 
-			if ( i > 0 ) {
-				// Make sure that the results are unique
-				for ( n = length; n < ret.length; n++ ) {
-					for ( r = 0; r < length; r++ ) {
-						if ( ret[r] === ret[n] ) {
-							ret.splice(n--, 1);
+				if ( i > 0 ) {
+					// Make sure that the results are unique
+					// by comparing the newly added elements on the ith
+					// iteration to the elements added by the previous iterations
+					for ( n = prevLength; n < ret.length; n++ ) {
+						for ( r = 0; r < prevLength; r++ ) {
+							if ( ret[ r ] === ret[ n ] ) {
+								ret.splice( n--, 1 );
 							break;
+							}
 						}
 					}
 				}
 			}
 		}
 
-		// Needed because $( "selector", context ) becomes $( context ).find( "selector" )
+		// Needed because $( selector, context ) becomes $( context ).find( selector )
+		ret = this.pushStack( ret );
 		ret.selector = ( this.selector ? this.selector + " " : "" ) + selector;
 		return ret;
 	},
diff --git a/test/unit/traversing.js b/test/unit/traversing.js
index 0facd2e6e..f374f53c2 100644
--- a/test/unit/traversing.js
+++ b/test/unit/traversing.js
@@ -1,20 +1,21 @@
 module("traversing", { teardown: moduleTeardown });
 
-test("find(String)", function() {
-	expect(5);
+test( "find(String)", function() {
+	expect( 6 );
 	equal( "Yahoo", jQuery("#foo").find(".blogTest").text(), "Check for find" );
 
 	// using contents will get comments regular, text, and comment nodes
 	var j = jQuery("#nonnodes").contents();
 	equal( j.find("div").length, 0, "Check node,textnode,comment to find zero divs" );
+	equal( j.find("div").andSelf().length, 3, "Check node,textnode,comment to find zero divs, but preserves pushStack" );
 
-	deepEqual( jQuery("#qunit-fixture").find("> div").get(), q("foo", "moretests", "tabindex-tests", "liveHandlerOrder", "siblingTest", "fx-test-group"), "find child elements" );
-	deepEqual( jQuery("#qunit-fixture").find("> #foo, > #moretests").get(), q("foo", "moretests"), "find child elements" );
-	deepEqual( jQuery("#qunit-fixture").find("> #foo > p").get(), q("sndp", "en", "sap"), "find child elements" );
+	deepEqual( jQuery("#qunit-fixture").find("> div").get(), q( "foo", "moretests", "tabindex-tests", "liveHandlerOrder", "siblingTest", "fx-test-group" ), "find child elements" );
+	deepEqual( jQuery("#qunit-fixture").find("> #foo, > #moretests").get(), q( "foo", "moretests" ), "find child elements" );
+	deepEqual( jQuery("#qunit-fixture").find("> #foo > p").get(), q( "sndp", "en", "sap" ), "find child elements" );
 });
 
-test("find(node|jQuery object)", function() {
-	expect( 11 );
+test( "find(node|jQuery object)", function() {
+	expect( 12 );
 
 	var $foo = jQuery("#foo"),
 		$blog = jQuery(".blogTest"),
@@ -23,18 +24,19 @@ test("find(node|jQuery object)", function() {
 		$fooTwo = $foo.add( $blog );
 
 	equal( $foo.find( $blog ).text(), "Yahoo", "Find with blog jQuery object" );
-	equal( $foo.find( $blog[0] ).text(), "Yahoo", "Find with blog node" );
+	equal( $foo.find( $blog[ 0 ] ).text(), "Yahoo", "Find with blog node" );
 	equal( $foo.find( $first ).length, 0, "#first is not in #foo" );
-	equal( $foo.find( $first[0]).length, 0, "#first not in #foo (node)" );
+	equal( $foo.find( $first[ 0 ]).length, 0, "#first not in #foo (node)" );
 	ok( $foo.find( $two ).is(".blogTest"), "Find returns only nodes within #foo" );
 	ok( $fooTwo.find( $blog ).is(".blogTest"), "Blog is part of the collection, but also within foo" );
-	ok( $fooTwo.find( $blog[0] ).is(".blogTest"), "Blog is part of the collection, but also within foo(node)" );
+	ok( $fooTwo.find( $blog[ 0 ] ).is(".blogTest"), "Blog is part of the collection, but also within foo(node)" );
 
 	equal( $two.find( $foo ).length, 0, "Foo is not in two elements" );
-	equal( $two.find( $foo[0] ).length, 0, "Foo is not in two elements(node)" );
+	equal( $two.find( $foo[ 0 ] ).length, 0, "Foo is not in two elements(node)" );
 	equal( $two.find( $first ).length, 0, "first is in the collection and not within two" );
 	equal( $two.find( $first ).length, 0, "first is in the collection and not within two(node)" );
 
+	equal( $two.find( $foo[ 0 ] ).andSelf().length, 2, "find preserves the pushStack, see #12009" );
 });
 
 test("is(String|undefined)", function() {