diff --git a/src/pretix/control/forms/item.py b/src/pretix/control/forms/item.py
index 071a5c347..6b41cc4b8 100644
--- a/src/pretix/control/forms/item.py
+++ b/src/pretix/control/forms/item.py
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ from pretix.control.forms import (
     ButtonGroupRadioSelect, ItemMultipleChoiceField, SizeValidationMixin,
     SplitDateTimeField, SplitDateTimePickerWidget,
 )
-from pretix.control.forms.widgets import Select2
+from pretix.control.forms.widgets import Select2, Select2ItemVarMulti
 from pretix.helpers.models import modelcopy
 from pretix.helpers.money import change_decimal_field
 
@@ -207,14 +207,20 @@ class QuestionOptionForm(I18nModelForm):
 
 
 class QuotaForm(I18nModelForm):
+    itemvars = forms.MultipleChoiceField(
+        label=_("Products"),
+        required=True,
+    )
+
     def __init__(self, **kwargs):
         self.instance = kwargs.get('instance', None)
         self.event = kwargs.get('event')
         items = kwargs.pop('items', None) or self.event.items.prefetch_related('variations')
+        searchable_selection = kwargs.pop('searchable_selection', None)
         self.original_instance = modelcopy(self.instance) if self.instance else None
         initial = kwargs.get('initial', {})
         if self.instance and self.instance.pk and 'itemvars' not in initial:
-            initial['itemvars'] = [str(i.pk) for i in self.instance.items.all()] + [
+            initial['itemvars'] = [str(i.pk) for i in self.instance.items.all() if (len(i.variations.all()) == 0)] + [
                 '{}-{}'.format(v.item_id, v.pk) for v in self.instance.variations.all()
             ]
         kwargs['initial'] = initial
@@ -231,12 +237,22 @@ class QuotaForm(I18nModelForm):
             else:
                 choices.append(('{}'.format(item.pk), str(item) if item.active else mark_safe(f'<strike class="text-muted">{escape(item)}</strike>')))
 
-        self.fields['itemvars'] = forms.MultipleChoiceField(
-            label=_('Products'),
-            required=True,
-            choices=choices,
-            widget=forms.CheckboxSelectMultiple
-        )
+        if searchable_selection:
+            self.fields['itemvars'].widget = Select2ItemVarMulti(
+                attrs={
+                    'data-model-select2': 'generic',
+                    'data-select2-url': reverse('control:event.items.itemvars.select2', kwargs={
+                        'event': self.event.slug,
+                        'organizer': self.event.organizer.slug,
+                    }),
+                    'data-placeholder': _('All products')
+                },
+                choices=choices,
+            )
+        else:
+            self.fields['itemvars'].widget = forms.CheckboxSelectMultiple()
+
+        self.fields['itemvars'].choices = choices
 
         if self.event.has_subevents:
             self.fields['subevent'].queryset = self.event.subevents.all()
diff --git a/src/pretix/control/forms/subevents.py b/src/pretix/control/forms/subevents.py
index f2fe4dbaa..4565c00c0 100644
--- a/src/pretix/control/forms/subevents.py
+++ b/src/pretix/control/forms/subevents.py
@@ -360,6 +360,7 @@ class BulkSubEventItemVariationForm(SubEventItemVariationForm):
 class QuotaFormSet(I18nInlineFormSet):
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        self.searchable_selection = kwargs.pop('searchable_selection', None)
         self.event = kwargs.pop('event', None)
         self.locales = self.event.settings.get('locales')
         super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
@@ -372,7 +373,7 @@ class QuotaFormSet(I18nInlineFormSet):
         kwargs['locales'] = self.locales
         kwargs['event'] = self.event
         kwargs['items'] = self.items
-        kwargs['items'] = self.items
+        kwargs['searchable_selection'] = self.searchable_selection
         return super()._construct_form(i, **kwargs)
 
     @property
diff --git a/src/pretix/control/forms/widgets.py b/src/pretix/control/forms/widgets.py
index 875ecdb3d..b65cc22bc 100644
--- a/src/pretix/control/forms/widgets.py
+++ b/src/pretix/control/forms/widgets.py
@@ -77,3 +77,19 @@ class Select2ItemVarQuotaMixin(Select2Mixin):
 
 class Select2ItemVarQuota(Select2ItemVarQuotaMixin, forms.Select):
     pass
+
+
+class Select2ItemVarMulti(Select2Mixin, forms.SelectMultiple):
+    def options(self, name, value, attrs=None):
+        # we need this for multi-selection without a queryset for the selection of items and variations
+        for i, v in enumerate(value):
+            yield self.create_option(
+                None,
+                v,
+                dict(self.choices)[v],
+                True,
+                i,
+                subindex=None,
+                attrs=attrs
+            )
+        return
diff --git a/src/pretix/control/urls.py b/src/pretix/control/urls.py
index 2e4b760ff..c9a761b22 100644
--- a/src/pretix/control/urls.py
+++ b/src/pretix/control/urls.py
@@ -293,6 +293,7 @@ urlpatterns = [
         re_path(r'^items/typeahead/meta/$', typeahead.item_meta_values, name='event.items.meta.typeahead'),
         re_path(r'^items/select2$', typeahead.items_select2, name='event.items.select2'),
         re_path(r'^items/select2/itemvar$', typeahead.itemvar_select2, name='event.items.itemvar.select2'),
+        re_path(r'^items/select2/itemvars$', typeahead.itemvars_select2, name='event.items.itemvars.select2'),
         re_path(r'^items/select2/variation$', typeahead.variations_select2, name='event.items.variations.select2'),
         re_path(r'^categories/$', item.CategoryList.as_view(), name='event.items.categories'),
         re_path(r'^categories/select2$', typeahead.category_select2, name='event.items.categories.select2'),
diff --git a/src/pretix/control/views/subevents.py b/src/pretix/control/views/subevents.py
index 707e94f25..0348bbf30 100644
--- a/src/pretix/control/views/subevents.py
+++ b/src/pretix/control/views/subevents.py
@@ -295,6 +295,7 @@ class SubEventEditorMixin(MetaDataEditorMixin):
             ]
             extra = 0
 
+        kwargs['searchable_selection'] = True
         formsetclass = inlineformset_factory(
             SubEvent, Quota,
             form=QuotaForm, formset=QuotaFormSet, min_num=1, validate_min=True,
diff --git a/src/pretix/control/views/typeahead.py b/src/pretix/control/views/typeahead.py
index 9090cf252..6c89c457c 100644
--- a/src/pretix/control/views/typeahead.py
+++ b/src/pretix/control/views/typeahead.py
@@ -684,6 +684,47 @@ def itemvar_select2(request, **kwargs):
     return JsonResponse(doc)
 
 
+@event_permission_required(None)
+def itemvars_select2(request, **kwargs):
+    query = request.GET.get('query', '')
+    try:
+        page = int(request.GET.get('page', '1'))
+    except ValueError:
+        page = 1
+
+    pagesize = 20
+    offset = (page - 1) * pagesize
+
+    choices = []
+
+    # We are very unlikely to need pagination
+    itemqs = request.event.items.prefetch_related('variations').filter(
+        Q(name__icontains=i18ncomp(query)) | Q(internal_name__icontains=query))
+    total = itemqs.count()
+
+    for i in itemqs[offset:offset + pagesize]:
+        variations = list(i.variations.all())
+        if variations:
+            for v in variations:
+                choices.append(('%d-%d' % (i.pk, v.pk), '%s – %s' % (i, v.value), not v.active))
+        else:
+            choices.append((str(i.pk), str(i), not i.active))
+
+    doc = {
+        'results': [
+            {
+                'id': k,
+                'text': str(v),
+            }
+            for k, v, d in choices
+        ],
+        'pagination': {
+            "more": total >= (offset + pagesize)
+        }
+    }
+    return JsonResponse(doc)
+
+
 @event_permission_required(None)
 def itemvarquota_select2(request, **kwargs):
     query = request.GET.get('query', '')
diff --git a/src/pretix/static/pretixcontrol/js/ui/main.js b/src/pretix/static/pretixcontrol/js/ui/main.js
index 53965b3be..61dfefefc 100644
--- a/src/pretix/static/pretixcontrol/js/ui/main.js
+++ b/src/pretix/static/pretixcontrol/js/ui/main.js
@@ -573,6 +573,7 @@ var form_handlers = function (el) {
     el.find('[data-model-select2=generic]').each(function () {
         var $s = $(this);
         $s.select2({
+            closeOnSelect: !this.hasAttribute('multiple'),
             theme: "bootstrap",
             delay: 100,
             allowClear: !$s.prop("required"),