diff --git a/app/controllers/courses_controller.rb b/app/controllers/courses_controller.rb
index 159650c38..e6c4ae330 100644
--- a/app/controllers/courses_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/courses_controller.rb
@@ -290,7 +290,8 @@ class CoursesController < ApplicationController
 
   def apply_teachers
     search_str = params[:search].present? ? params[:search].strip : ""
-    @applications = CourseMessage.unhandled_join_course_requests_by_course(@course).joins(:user).
+    @applications = CourseMessage.unhandled_join_course_requests_by_course(@course).
+        joins("join users on course_messages.course_message_id=users.id").
         where("LOWER(concat(users.lastname, users.firstname)) LIKE ?", "%#{search_str}%")
     @teacher_list_size = @course.teachers.size
     @applications_size = CourseMessage.unhandled_join_course_requests_by_course(@course).size