diff --git a/docs/api-guide/filtering.md b/docs/api-guide/filtering.md
index ff5f3c775..f8a243f7b 100644
--- a/docs/api-guide/filtering.md
+++ b/docs/api-guide/filtering.md
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ When in use, the browsable API will include a `SearchFilter` control:
 
 ![Search Filter](../img/search-filter.png)
 
-The `SearchFilter` class will only be applied if the view has a `search_fields` attribute set.  The `search_fields` attribute should be a list of names of text type fields on the model, such as `CharField` or `TextField`.
+The `SearchFilter` class will only be applied if `SearchFilter` class itself or the view has a `search_fields` attribute set. The `search_fields` attribute should be a list of names of text type fields on the model, such as `CharField` or `TextField`.
 
     from rest_framework import filters
 
@@ -247,6 +247,21 @@ To dynamically change search fields based on request content, it's possible to s
                 return ['title']
             return super().get_search_fields(view, request)
 
+To use use multiple filters in the same view, override `search_param` and `search_fields` attribute. Many filters can be applied simultaneously on the same view. For example, the following subclass will search on `title` if the query parameter `search_title` is used and search on `text` if the query parameter `search_title` is used:
+
+    from rest_framework import filters
+
+        class TitleSearchFilter(filters.SearchFilter):
+            search_param = 'search_title'
+            search_fields = ('$title', )
+
+        class TextSearchFilter(filters.SearchFilter):
+            search_param = 'search_text'
+            search_fields = ('$text', )
+
+        class SearchListView(generics.ListAPIView):
+            filter_backends = (TitleSearchFilter, TextSearchFilter)
+
 For more details, see the [Django documentation][search-django-admin].
 
 ---
diff --git a/rest_framework/filters.py b/rest_framework/filters.py
index 3f4730da8..24a2c88e4 100644
--- a/rest_framework/filters.py
+++ b/rest_framework/filters.py
@@ -71,14 +71,15 @@ class SearchFilter(BaseFilterBackend):
     }
     search_title = _('Search')
     search_description = _('A search term.')
+    search_fields = None
 
     def get_search_fields(self, view, request):
         """
-        Search fields are obtained from the view, but the request is always
-        passed to this method. Sub-classes can override this method to
+        Search fields are obtained from the search backend / view, but the request is
+        always passed to this method. Sub-classes can override this method to
         dynamically change the search fields based on request content.
         """
-        return getattr(view, 'search_fields', None)
+        return getattr(self, 'search_fields') or getattr(view, 'search_fields', None)
 
     def get_search_terms(self, request):
         """
diff --git a/tests/test_filters.py b/tests/test_filters.py
index 9fc8ad1a9..12867ab4a 100644
--- a/tests/test_filters.py
+++ b/tests/test_filters.py
@@ -205,6 +205,43 @@ class SearchFilterTests(TestCase):
             {'id': 3, 'title': 'zzz', 'text': 'cde'}
         ]
 
+    def test_search_with_filter_multiple(self):
+        class TitleSearchFilter(filters.SearchFilter):
+            search_param = 'search_title'
+            search_fields = ('$title', )
+
+        class TextSearchFilter(filters.SearchFilter):
+            search_param = 'search_text'
+            search_fields = ('$text', )
+
+        class SearchListView(generics.ListAPIView):
+            queryset = SearchFilterModel.objects.all()
+            serializer_class = SearchFilterSerializer
+            filter_backends = (TitleSearchFilter, TextSearchFilter)
+
+        view = SearchListView.as_view()
+        request = factory.get('/', {TitleSearchFilter.search_param: r'^z{3}$'})
+        response = view(request)
+        assert response.data == [
+            {'id': 3, 'title': 'zzz', 'text': 'cde'}
+        ]
+
+        request = factory.get('/', {TextSearchFilter.search_param: r'^cde$'})
+        response = view(request)
+        assert response.data == [
+            {'id': 3, 'title': 'zzz', 'text': 'cde'}
+        ]
+
+        request = factory.get('/', {
+            TitleSearchFilter.search_param: r'^(z{3}|z{2})$',
+            TextSearchFilter.search_param: r'^\w{3}$'
+        })
+        response = view(request)
+        assert response.data == [
+            {'id': 2, 'title': 'zz', 'text': 'bcd'},
+            {'id': 3, 'title': 'zzz', 'text': 'cde'}
+        ]
+
     def test_search_field_with_null_characters(self):
         view = generics.GenericAPIView()
         request = factory.get('/?search=\0as%00d\x00f')