diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/Navbar/index.tsx b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/Navbar/index.tsx
index 9c43d204e6..7b85bb9964 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/Navbar/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/Navbar/index.tsx
@@ -44,10 +44,7 @@ function Navbar(): JSX.Element {
     navbar: {items, hideOnScroll, style},
     colorMode: {disableSwitch: disableColorModeSwitch},
   } = useThemeConfig();
-
   const [sidebarShown, setSidebarShown] = useState(false);
-  const [isSearchBarExpanded, setIsSearchBarExpanded] = useState(false);
-
   const {isDarkTheme, setLightTheme, setDarkTheme} = useThemeContext();
   const {navbarRef, isNavbarVisible} = useHideableNavbar(hideOnScroll);
 
@@ -73,6 +70,7 @@ function Navbar(): JSX.Element {
     }
   }, [windowSize]);
 
+  const hasSearchNavbarItem = items.some((item) => item.type === 'search');
   const {leftItems, rightItems} = splitNavItemsByPosition(items);
 
   return (
@@ -101,9 +99,7 @@ function Navbar(): JSX.Element {
           <Logo
             className="navbar__brand"
             imageClassName="navbar__logo"
-            titleClassName={clsx('navbar__title', {
-              [styles.hideLogoText]: isSearchBarExpanded,
-            })}
+            titleClassName={clsx('navbar__title')}
           />
           {leftItems.map((item, i) => (
             <NavbarItem {...item} key={i} />
@@ -121,10 +117,7 @@ function Navbar(): JSX.Element {
               onChange={onToggleChange}
             />
           )}
-          <SearchBar
-            handleSearchBarToggle={setIsSearchBarExpanded}
-            isSearchBarExpanded={isSearchBarExpanded}
-          />
+          {!hasSearchNavbarItem && <SearchBar />}
         </div>
       </div>
       <div
@@ -152,7 +145,12 @@ function Navbar(): JSX.Element {
           <div className="menu">
             <ul className="menu__list">
               {items.map((item, i) => (
-                <NavbarItem mobile {...item} onClick={hideSidebar} key={i} />
+                <NavbarItem
+                  mobile
+                  {...(item as any)} // TODO fix typing
+                  onClick={hideSidebar}
+                  key={i}
+                />
               ))}
             </ul>
           </div>
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/Navbar/styles.module.css b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/Navbar/styles.module.css
index 3b564fb80d..760d9b46fd 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/Navbar/styles.module.css
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/Navbar/styles.module.css
@@ -11,12 +11,6 @@
   }
 }
 
-@media (max-width: 768px) {
-  .hideLogoText {
-    display: none;
-  }
-}
-
 .navbarHideable {
   transition: transform var(--ifm-transition-fast) ease;
 }
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/NavbarItem/SearchNavbarItem.tsx b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/NavbarItem/SearchNavbarItem.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..122cea489e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/NavbarItem/SearchNavbarItem.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+import React from 'react';
+import type {Props} from '@theme/NavbarItem/SearchNavbarItem';
+import SearchBar from '@theme/SearchBar';
+import styles from './styles.module.css';
+
+export default function SearchNavbarItem({mobile}: Props): JSX.Element | null {
+  if (mobile) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  return (
+    <div className={styles.searchWrapper}>
+      <SearchBar />
+    </div>
+  );
+}
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/NavbarItem/index.tsx b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/NavbarItem/index.tsx
index 802ee0f7a9..70451c855c 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/NavbarItem/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/NavbarItem/index.tsx
@@ -8,11 +8,13 @@
 import React from 'react';
 import DefaultNavbarItem from '@theme/NavbarItem/DefaultNavbarItem';
 import LocaleDropdownNavbarItem from '@theme/NavbarItem/LocaleDropdownNavbarItem';
+import SearchNavbarItem from '@theme/NavbarItem/SearchNavbarItem';
 import type {Props} from '@theme/NavbarItem';
 
 const NavbarItemComponents = {
   default: () => DefaultNavbarItem,
   localeDropdown: () => LocaleDropdownNavbarItem,
+  search: () => SearchNavbarItem,
 
   // Need to lazy load these items as we don't know for sure the docs plugin is loaded
   // See https://github.com/facebook/docusaurus/issues/3360
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/NavbarItem/styles.module.css b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/NavbarItem/styles.module.css
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..361a1b239f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/NavbarItem/styles.module.css
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+@media (max-width: 996px) {
+  .searchWrapper {
+    position: absolute;
+    right: var(--ifm-navbar-padding-horizontal);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/SearchBar.tsx b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/SearchBar.tsx
index 5ce87930a5..2c59cbfea8 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/SearchBar.tsx
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/theme/SearchBar.tsx
@@ -5,4 +5,8 @@
  * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
  */
 
+// By default, the classic theme does not provide any SearchBar implementation
+// If you swizzled this file, it is your responsibility to provide an implementation
+// Tip: swizzle the SearchBar from the Algolia theme for inspiration:
+// npm run swizzle @docusaurus/theme-search-algolia SearchBar
 export {default} from '@docusaurus/Noop';
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/types.d.ts b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/types.d.ts
index 84b7c53a9e..b4d5866db1 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/types.d.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/types.d.ts
@@ -312,6 +312,13 @@ declare module '@theme/NavbarItem/DefaultNavbarItem' {
   export default DefaultNavbarItem;
 }
 
+declare module '@theme/NavbarItem/SearchNavbarItem' {
+  export type Props = {readonly mobile?: boolean};
+
+  const SearchNavbarItem: (props: Props) => JSX.Element;
+  export default SearchNavbarItem;
+}
+
 declare module '@theme/NavbarItem/LocaleDropdownNavbarItem' {
   import type {Props as DefaultNavbarItemProps} from '@theme/NavbarItem/DefaultNavbarItem';
   import type {NavLinkProps} from '@theme/NavbarItem/DefaultNavbarItem';
@@ -366,13 +373,15 @@ declare module '@theme/NavbarItem' {
   import type {Props as DefaultNavbarItemProps} from '@theme/NavbarItem/DefaultNavbarItem';
   import type {Props as DocsVersionDropdownNavbarItemProps} from '@theme/NavbarItem/DocsVersionDropdownNavbarItem';
   import type {Props as DocsVersionNavbarItemProps} from '@theme/NavbarItem/DocsVersionNavbarItem';
+  import type {Props as SearchNavbarItemProps} from '@theme/NavbarItem/SearchNavbarItem';
 
   export type Props =
     | ({readonly type?: 'default' | undefined} & DefaultNavbarItemProps)
     | ({
         readonly type: 'docsVersionDropdown';
       } & DocsVersionDropdownNavbarItemProps)
-    | ({readonly type: 'docsVersion'} & DocsVersionNavbarItemProps);
+    | ({readonly type: 'docsVersion'} & DocsVersionNavbarItemProps)
+    | ({readonly type: 'search'} & SearchNavbarItemProps);
 
   const NavbarItem: (props: Props) => JSX.Element;
   export default NavbarItem;
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/validateThemeConfig.js b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/validateThemeConfig.js
index 0c6a4b2907..a89fc6022c 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/validateThemeConfig.js
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-theme-classic/src/validateThemeConfig.js
@@ -107,6 +107,11 @@ const LocaleDropdownNavbarItemSchema = Joi.object({
   className: Joi.string(),
 });
 
+const SearchItemSchema = Joi.object({
+  type: Joi.string().equal('search').required(),
+  position: NavbarItemPosition,
+});
+
 // Can this be made easier? :/
 const isOfType = (type) => {
   let typeSchema = Joi.string().required();
@@ -139,6 +144,10 @@ const NavbarItemSchema = Joi.object().when({
       is: isOfType('localeDropdown'),
       then: LocaleDropdownNavbarItemSchema,
     },
+    {
+      is: isOfType('search'),
+      then: SearchItemSchema,
+    },
     {
       is: isOfType(undefined),
       then: Joi.forbidden().messages({
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-theme-common/src/utils/useThemeConfig.ts b/packages/docusaurus-theme-common/src/utils/useThemeConfig.ts
index 52e2fddb5f..84e2895b44 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-theme-common/src/utils/useThemeConfig.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-theme-common/src/utils/useThemeConfig.ts
@@ -8,8 +8,9 @@ import useDocusaurusContext from '@docusaurus/useDocusaurusContext';
 
 export type DocsVersionPersistence = 'localStorage' | 'none';
 
-// TODO improve
+// TODO improve types, use unions
 export type NavbarItem = {
+  type?: string | undefined;
   items?: NavbarItem[];
   label?: string;
 };
diff --git a/website/docs/api/themes/theme-configuration.md b/website/docs/api/themes/theme-configuration.md
index fcc888f2e0..f64dc799fb 100644
--- a/website/docs/api/themes/theme-configuration.md
+++ b/website/docs/api/themes/theme-configuration.md
@@ -395,12 +395,26 @@ module.exports = {
 };
 ```
 
-````
+### Navbar search
+
+If you use the [search](../../search.md), the search bar will be the rightmost element in the navbar.
+
+However, with this special navbar item type, you can change the default location.
+
+```js {5-8} title="docusaurus.config.js"
+module.exports = {
+  themeConfig: {
+    navbar: {
+      items: [
         {
-          type: 'localeDropdown',
-          position: 'left',
+          type: 'search',
+          position: 'right',
         },
-        ```
+      ],
+    },
+  },
+};
+```
 
 ### Auto-hide sticky navbar
 
@@ -416,7 +430,7 @@ module.exports = {
     // ...
   },
 };
-````
+```
 
 ### Navbar style