diff --git a/conf/core/server.conf b/conf/core/server.conf
index 57744250a7ef88285b343aa5c037de9cbbf97097..46c0f83d4b7327d84c9009bdcba10b54ee0df70f 100644
--- a/conf/core/server.conf
+++ b/conf/core/server.conf
@@ -211,6 +211,15 @@ USER_NAME_INVALID_MESSAGE=User names must have a length from 1 to 32 characters.
 PASSWORD_VALID_REGEX=^((?=.*\\d)(?=.*[a-z])(?=.*[A-Z])(?=.*[\\p{Punct}]).{8,128})$
 PASSWORD_INVALID_MESSAGE=Passwords must have a length from 8 to 128 characters. THe must contain at least one [A-Z], one [a-z], one [0-9] and a special character e.g. [!§$%&/()=?.;,:#+*+~].
 
+# --------------------------------------------------
+# Query Settings
+# --------------------------------------------------
+
+# FIND blablabla is short for FIND $FIND_QUERY_DEFAULT_ROLE blablabla. Should be
+# either ENTITY or RECORD. RECORDTYPE, FILE, and PROPERTY will work as well but
+# are rather unexpected for human users.
+FIND_QUERY_DEFAULT_ROLE=RECORD
+
 # --------------------------------------------------
 # Extensions
 # --------------------------------------------------
@@ -220,4 +229,4 @@ ENTITY_VERSIONING_ENABLED=true
 
 
 # Enabling the state machine extension
-# EXT_STATE_ENTITY=ENABLE
+# EXT_STATE_ENTITY=ENABLE
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/caosdb/server/ServerProperties.java b/src/main/java/org/caosdb/server/ServerProperties.java
index 87f5b22d55dfc11a8ae0158df85fa69d2b6cdc9d..d58250242f691498288d765dd252986eda7fb09f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/caosdb/server/ServerProperties.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/caosdb/server/ServerProperties.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.Comparator;
 import java.util.Properties;
+import org.caosdb.server.query.Query;
 import org.caosdb.server.utils.AbstractObservable;
 import org.caosdb.server.utils.Observable;
 import org.caosdb.server.utils.Observer;
@@ -114,6 +115,7 @@ public class ServerProperties extends Properties implements Observable {
 
   public static final String KEY_QUERY_FILTER_ENTITIES_WITHOUT_RETRIEVE_PERMISSIONS =
       "QUERY_FILTER_ENTITIES_WITHOUT_RETRIEVE_PERMISSIONS";
+  public static final String KEY_FIND_QUERY_DEFAULT_ROLE = "FIND_QUERY_DEFAULT_ROLE";
 
   public static final String KEY_SERVER_NAME = "SERVER_NAME";
 
@@ -199,9 +201,25 @@ public class ServerProperties extends Properties implements Observable {
         logger.info(name + "=" + val);
       }
     }
+
+    sanityCheck(serverProperties);
+
     return serverProperties;
   }
 
+  private static void sanityCheck(ServerProperties serverProperties) {
+    try {
+      Query.Role.valueOf(serverProperties.getProperty(KEY_FIND_QUERY_DEFAULT_ROLE));
+    } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+      logger.error(
+          "Unsupported value for server property "
+              + KEY_FIND_QUERY_DEFAULT_ROLE
+              + ": "
+              + serverProperties.getProperty(KEY_FIND_QUERY_DEFAULT_ROLE));
+      System.exit(1);
+    }
+  }
+
   private static void loadConfigFile(final Properties serverProperties, final File confFile)
       throws IOException {
     if (confFile.exists() && confFile.isFile()) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/caosdb/server/query/Query.java b/src/main/java/org/caosdb/server/query/Query.java
index 7da810c3d8f50ab739dd72a65551b45449b4d183..a517cbaaaaa81208dd3bb2613d2f20d4de0ec1f1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/caosdb/server/query/Query.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/caosdb/server/query/Query.java
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ import org.caosdb.server.caching.Cache;
 import org.caosdb.server.database.access.Access;
 import org.caosdb.server.database.backend.implementation.MySQL.ConnectionException;
 import org.caosdb.server.database.backend.implementation.MySQL.MySQLHelper;
+import org.caosdb.server.database.backend.transaction.RetrieveFullEntityTransaction;
 import org.caosdb.server.database.backend.transaction.RetrieveSparseEntity;
 import org.caosdb.server.database.misc.DBHelper;
 import org.caosdb.server.database.misc.TransactionBenchmark;
@@ -604,6 +605,22 @@ public class Query implements QueryInterface, ToElementable, TransactionInterfac
         this.role = Role.ENTITY;
       }
     }
+
+    // "FIND Person" is interpreted as "FIND RECORD Person"
+    if (this.role == null) {
+      try {
+        this.role =
+            Role.valueOf(
+                CaosDBServer.getServerProperty(ServerProperties.KEY_FIND_QUERY_DEFAULT_ROLE));
+      } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+        addError(
+            "Unsupportet value of the server property "
+                + ServerProperties.KEY_FIND_QUERY_DEFAULT_ROLE
+                + ": "
+                + CaosDBServer.getServerProperty(ServerProperties.KEY_FIND_QUERY_DEFAULT_ROLE));
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException(e);
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   private String executeStrategy(final boolean versioned) throws QueryException {
@@ -829,6 +846,10 @@ public class Query implements QueryInterface, ToElementable, TransactionInterfac
     this.messages.add(new Message(MessageType.Warning, MessageCode.MESSAGE_CODE_UNKNOWN, w));
   }
 
+  private void addError(final String e) {
+    this.messages.add(new Message(MessageType.Error, MessageCode.MESSAGE_CODE_UNKNOWN, e));
+  }
+
   private void cleanUp() {
     if (getConnection() != null) {
       ResultSet rs = null;