diff --git a/packages/@n8n/utils/src/search/sublimeSearch.test.ts b/packages/@n8n/utils/src/search/sublimeSearch.test.ts
index f725e26e7ee..8cadfdca292 100644
--- a/packages/@n8n/utils/src/search/sublimeSearch.test.ts
+++ b/packages/@n8n/utils/src/search/sublimeSearch.test.ts
@@ -1,22 +1,36 @@
+import { reRankSearchResults } from './reRankSearchResults';
 import topLevel from './snapshots/toplevel.snapshot.json';
 import { sublimeSearch } from './sublimeSearch';
 
+// Mirrors packages/frontend/editor-ui/data/node-popularity.json scaled by the factor
+// applied in useViewStacks.ts. Only the nodes asserted below are included.
+const popularity: Record<string, number> = {
+	/* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/naming-convention */
+	'n8n-nodes-base.set': 0.959 * 100,
+	'n8n-nodes-base.editImage': 0.617 * 100,
+	'@n8n/n8n-nodes-langchain.agent': 0.975 * 100,
+	/* eslint-enable @typescript-eslint/naming-convention */
+};
+
 describe('sublimeSearch', () => {
 	describe('search finds specific matches first', () => {
-		// Note that this only tests the order of the specified matches
-		// Further results may appear after the listed ones
+		// Mirrors the production pipeline in useViewStacks.ts:
+		//   sublimeSearch(query, items) → reRankSearchResults(results, { popularity })
+		// Note that this only tests the order of the specified matches.
+		// Further results may appear after the listed ones.
 		const testCases: Array<[string, string[]]> = [
 			['set', ['Edit Fields (Set)']],
+			['edit', ['Edit Fields (Set)']],
 			['agent', ['AI Agent', 'Magento 2']],
 		];
 
 		test.each(testCases)(
 			'should return at least "$expectedOrder" for filter "$filter"',
 			(filter, expectedOrder) => {
-				// These match the weights in the production use case
 				const results = sublimeSearch(filter, topLevel);
+				const reRanked = reRankSearchResults(results, { popularity });
 
-				const resultNames = results.map((result) => result.item.properties.displayName);
+				const resultNames = reRanked.map((result) => result.item.properties.displayName);
 				expectedOrder.forEach((expectedName, index) => {
 					expect(resultNames[index]).toBe(expectedName);
 				});
diff --git a/packages/@n8n/utils/src/search/sublimeSearch.ts b/packages/@n8n/utils/src/search/sublimeSearch.ts
index 85167440f57..adc59bf429d 100644
--- a/packages/@n8n/utils/src/search/sublimeSearch.ts
+++ b/packages/@n8n/utils/src/search/sublimeSearch.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ const FIRST_LETTER_BONUS = 15; // bonus if the first letter is matched
 
 const LEADING_LETTER_PENALTY = -20; // penalty applied for every letter in str before the first match
 const MAX_LEADING_LETTER_PENALTY = -200; // maximum penalty for leading letters
-const UNMATCHED_LETTER_PENALTY = -5;
+const UNMATCHED_LETTER_PENALTY = -2.5;
 
 export const DEFAULT_KEYS = [
 	{ key: 'properties.displayName', weight: 1.3 },