diff --git a/src/applications/project/customfield/PhabricatorProjectDescriptionField.php b/src/applications/project/customfield/PhabricatorProjectDescriptionField.php
--- a/src/applications/project/customfield/PhabricatorProjectDescriptionField.php
+++ b/src/applications/project/customfield/PhabricatorProjectDescriptionField.php
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
           'name'        => pht('Description'),
           'type'        => 'remarkup',
           'description' => pht('Short project description.'),
+          'fulltext'    => PhabricatorSearchField::FIELD_BODY,
         ),
       ));
   }
diff --git a/src/docs/user/configuration/custom_fields.diviner b/src/docs/user/configuration/custom_fields.diviner
--- a/src/docs/user/configuration/custom_fields.diviner
+++ b/src/docs/user/configuration/custom_fields.diviner
@@ -102,6 +102,9 @@
     defaults to `true`). (Note: Empty fields are not shown.)
   - **search**: Show this field on the application's search interface, allowing
     users to filter objects by the field value.
+  - **fulltext**: Index the text in this field as part of the object's global
+    full-text index. This allows users to find the object by searching for
+    the field's contents using global search.
   - **caption**: A caption to display underneath the field (optional).
   - **required**: True if the user should be required to provide a value.
   - **options**: If type is set to **select**, provide options for the dropdown
diff --git a/src/infrastructure/customfield/field/PhabricatorCustomFieldList.php b/src/infrastructure/customfield/field/PhabricatorCustomFieldList.php
--- a/src/infrastructure/customfield/field/PhabricatorCustomFieldList.php
+++ b/src/infrastructure/customfield/field/PhabricatorCustomFieldList.php
@@ -339,8 +339,6 @@
       }
       $field->updateAbstractDocument($document);
     }
-
-    return $document;
   }
 
 
diff --git a/src/infrastructure/customfield/standard/PhabricatorStandardCustomField.php b/src/infrastructure/customfield/standard/PhabricatorStandardCustomField.php
--- a/src/infrastructure/customfield/standard/PhabricatorStandardCustomField.php
+++ b/src/infrastructure/customfield/standard/PhabricatorStandardCustomField.php
@@ -402,4 +402,25 @@
     return 'std:control:'.$key;
   }
 
+  public function shouldAppearInGlobalSearch() {
+    return $this->getFieldConfigValue('fulltext', false);
+  }
+
+  public function updateAbstractDocument(
+    PhabricatorSearchAbstractDocument $document) {
+
+    $field_key = $this->getFieldConfigValue('fulltext');
+
+    // If the caller or configuration didn't specify a valid field key,
+    // generate one automatically from the field index.
+    if (!is_string($field_key) || (strlen($field_key) != 4)) {
+      $field_key = '!'.substr($this->getFieldIndex(), 0, 3);
+    }
+
+    $field_value = $this->getFieldValue();
+    if (strlen($field_value)) {
+      $document->addField($field_key, $field_value);
+    }
+  }
+
 }