diff --git a/apps/user_ldap/lib/access.php b/apps/user_ldap/lib/access.php
index 23ba4253ed3bc90533d9e5cc4f7953dfeb45dc49..570f445650d568887a935a316df6e1682906bd6e 100644
--- a/apps/user_ldap/lib/access.php
+++ b/apps/user_ldap/lib/access.php
@@ -140,6 +140,18 @@ class Access extends LDAPUtility implements user\IUserTools {
 		return in_array($attr, $resemblingAttributes);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * checks whether the given string is probably a DN
+	 * @param string $string
+	 * @return boolean
+	 */
+	public function stringResemblesDN($string) {
+		$r = $this->ldap->explodeDN($string, 0);
+		// if exploding a DN succeeds and does not end up in
+		// an empty array except for $r[count] being 0.
+		return (is_array($r) && count($r) > 1);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * sanitizes a DN received from the LDAP server
 	 * @param array $dn the DN in question
diff --git a/apps/user_ldap/lib/user/iusertools.php b/apps/user_ldap/lib/user/iusertools.php
index e409f3afed34460f03bfe63c475d4101ddfd365a..bbc678153de3d538a4e838a739d554a41bcc17de 100644
--- a/apps/user_ldap/lib/user/iusertools.php
+++ b/apps/user_ldap/lib/user/iusertools.php
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ interface IUserTools {
 
 	public function readAttribute($dn, $attr, $filter = 'objectClass=*');
 
+	public function stringResemblesDN($string);
+
 	public function dn2username($dn, $ldapname = null);
 
 	public function username2dn($name);
diff --git a/apps/user_ldap/lib/user/manager.php b/apps/user_ldap/lib/user/manager.php
index 0f17900b5f3e47bf96658213e7e05307c6d56b6e..0ed3d09c48f9ee6dee4cbb9ec462810e72e8fc11 100644
--- a/apps/user_ldap/lib/user/manager.php
+++ b/apps/user_ldap/lib/user/manager.php
@@ -143,8 +143,7 @@ class Manager {
 			return $this->users['byUid'][$id];
 		}
 
-		if(strpos(mb_strtolower($id, 'UTF-8'), 'dc=') === false
-		   && strpos(mb_strtolower($id, 'UTF-8'), 'uid=') === false ) {
+		if(!$this->access->stringResemblesDN($id) ) {
 			//most likely a uid
 			$dn = $this->access->username2dn($id);
 			if($dn !== false) {
diff --git a/apps/user_ldap/tests/access.php b/apps/user_ldap/tests/access.php
index e77aad769d45e01680b838f48bb1a57b5b323894..72b9780c018d8f28663eca518f3116fa29d5e31b 100644
--- a/apps/user_ldap/tests/access.php
+++ b/apps/user_ldap/tests/access.php
@@ -156,4 +156,80 @@ class Test_Access extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
 
 		$this->assertSame($expected, $access->getDomainDNFromDN($inputDN));
 	}
+
+	public function stringResemblesDNYes() {
+		list($lw, $con, $um) = $this->getConnecterAndLdapMock();
+		$access = new Access($con, $lw, $um);
+
+		$input = 'foo=bar,bar=foo,dc=foobar';
+		$interResult = array(
+			'count' => 3,
+			0 => 'foo=bar',
+			1 => 'bar=foo',
+			2 => 'dc=foobar'
+		);
+
+		$lw->expects($this->once())
+			->method('explodeDN')
+			->will($this->returnValue($interResult));
+
+		$this->assertTrue($access->stringResemblesDN($input));
+	}
+
+	public function stringResemblesDNYesLDAPmod() {
+		list($lw, $con, $um) = $this->getConnecterAndLdapMock();
+		$lw = new \OCA\user_ldap\lib\LDAP();
+		$access = new Access($con, $lw, $um);
+
+		if(!function_exists('ldap_explode_dn')) {
+			$this->markTestSkipped('LDAP Module not available');
+		}
+
+		$input = 'foo=bar,bar=foo,dc=foobar';
+		$interResult = array(
+			'count' => 3,
+			0 => 'foo=bar',
+			1 => 'bar=foo',
+			2 => 'dc=foobar'
+		);
+
+		$lw->expects($this->once())
+			->method('explodeDN')
+			->will($this->returnValue($interResult));
+
+		$this->assertTrue($access->stringResemblesDN($input));
+	}
+
+	public function stringResemblesDNNo() {
+		list($lw, $con, $um) = $this->getConnecterAndLdapMock();
+		$access = new Access($con, $lw, $um);
+
+		$input = 'foobarbarfoodcfoobar';
+		$interResult = false;
+
+		$lw->expects($this->once())
+			->method('explodeDN')
+			->will($this->returnValue($interResult));
+
+		$this->assertFalse($access->stringResemblesDN($input));
+	}
+
+	public function stringResemblesDNNoLDAPMod() {
+		list($lw, $con, $um) = $this->getConnecterAndLdapMock();
+		$lw = new \OCA\user_ldap\lib\LDAP();
+		$access = new Access($con, $lw, $um);
+
+		if(!function_exists('ldap_explode_dn')) {
+			$this->markTestSkipped('LDAP Module not available');
+		}
+
+		$input = 'foobarbarfoodcfoobar';
+		$interResult = false;
+
+		$lw->expects($this->once())
+			->method('explodeDN')
+			->will($this->returnValue($interResult));
+
+		$this->assertFalse($access->stringResemblesDN($input));
+	}
 }
diff --git a/apps/user_ldap/tests/user/manager.php b/apps/user_ldap/tests/user/manager.php
index 7599980ff9a7971b3da2794fce8c9e8babd6e310..7d687867213629eefaf480a43c9d805b2ef481fc 100644
--- a/apps/user_ldap/tests/user/manager.php
+++ b/apps/user_ldap/tests/user/manager.php
@@ -44,6 +44,11 @@ class Test_User_Manager extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
         $inputDN = 'cn=foo,dc=foobar,dc=bar';
         $uid = '563418fc-423b-1033-8d1c-ad5f418ee02e';
 
+		$access->expects($this->once())
+            ->method('stringResemblesDN')
+            ->with($this->equalTo($inputDN))
+            ->will($this->returnValue(true));
+
         $access->expects($this->once())
             ->method('dn2username')
             ->with($this->equalTo($inputDN))
@@ -66,6 +71,38 @@ class Test_User_Manager extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
         $inputDN = 'uid=foo,o=foobar,c=bar';
         $uid = '563418fc-423b-1033-8d1c-ad5f418ee02e';
 
+		$access->expects($this->once())
+            ->method('stringResemblesDN')
+            ->with($this->equalTo($inputDN))
+            ->will($this->returnValue(true));
+
+        $access->expects($this->once())
+            ->method('dn2username')
+            ->with($this->equalTo($inputDN))
+            ->will($this->returnValue($uid));
+
+        $access->expects($this->never())
+            ->method('username2dn');
+
+        $manager = new Manager($config, $filesys, $log, $avaMgr, $image);
+        $manager->setLdapAccess($access);
+        $user = $manager->get($inputDN);
+
+        $this->assertInstanceOf('\OCA\user_ldap\lib\user\User', $user);
+    }
+
+    public function testGetByExoticDN() {
+        list($access, $config, $filesys, $image, $log, $avaMgr) =
+            $this->getTestInstances();
+
+        $inputDN = 'ab=cde,f=ghei,mno=pq';
+        $uid = '563418fc-423b-1033-8d1c-ad5f418ee02e';
+
+		$access->expects($this->once())
+            ->method('stringResemblesDN')
+            ->with($this->equalTo($inputDN))
+            ->will($this->returnValue(true));
+
         $access->expects($this->once())
             ->method('dn2username')
             ->with($this->equalTo($inputDN))
@@ -87,6 +124,11 @@ class Test_User_Manager extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
 
         $inputDN = 'cn=gone,dc=foobar,dc=bar';
 
+		$access->expects($this->once())
+            ->method('stringResemblesDN')
+            ->with($this->equalTo($inputDN))
+            ->will($this->returnValue(true));
+
         $access->expects($this->once())
             ->method('dn2username')
             ->with($this->equalTo($inputDN))
@@ -119,6 +161,11 @@ class Test_User_Manager extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
             ->with($this->equalTo($uid))
             ->will($this->returnValue($dn));
 
+        $access->expects($this->once())
+            ->method('stringResemblesDN')
+            ->with($this->equalTo($uid))
+            ->will($this->returnValue(false));
+
         $manager = new Manager($config, $filesys, $log, $avaMgr, $image);
         $manager->setLdapAccess($access);
         $user = $manager->get($uid);