diff --git a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/discovery/SolrServiceMetadataBrowseIndexingPlugin.java b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/discovery/SolrServiceMetadataBrowseIndexingPlugin.java
index 7be7ecff450..68fbcfc285b 100644
--- a/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/discovery/SolrServiceMetadataBrowseIndexingPlugin.java
+++ b/dspace-api/src/main/java/org/dspace/discovery/SolrServiceMetadataBrowseIndexingPlugin.java
@@ -125,8 +125,20 @@ public void additionalIndex(Context context, IndexableObject indexableObject, So
                                                                                     Boolean.FALSE),
                                                        true);
 
+                            // the maximum security level (if not null) which ist still indexed
+                            Integer maxsecuritylevel = DSpaceServicesFactory
+                                .getInstance()
+                                .getConfigurationService()
+                                .getIntProperty("discovery.index.securitylevel.maxlevel", 0);
+
+
                             for (int x = 0; x < values.size(); x++) {
                                 MetadataValue val = values.get(x);
+
+                                if (val.getSecurityLevel() != null && val.getSecurityLevel() > maxsecuritylevel) {
+                                    continue;
+                                }
+
                                 boolean hasChoiceAuthority = choiceAuthorityService
                                         .isChoicesConfigured(metadataAuthorityService
                                                 .makeFieldKey(val.getSchema(), val.getElement(), val.getQualifier())
diff --git a/dspace-api/src/test/java/org/dspace/discovery/DiscoveryIT.java b/dspace-api/src/test/java/org/dspace/discovery/DiscoveryIT.java
index ba2c4768094..9b309ac736c 100644
--- a/dspace-api/src/test/java/org/dspace/discovery/DiscoveryIT.java
+++ b/dspace-api/src/test/java/org/dspace/discovery/DiscoveryIT.java
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
 package org.dspace.discovery;
 
 import static org.dspace.discovery.SolrServiceWorkspaceWorkflowRestrictionPlugin.DISCOVER_WORKSPACE_CONFIGURATION_NAME;
+import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasItem;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.not;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.startsWith;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
@@ -21,6 +25,10 @@
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
 
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.SolrQuery;
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.SolrServerException;
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.response.QueryResponse;
+import org.apache.solr.common.SolrDocument;
 import org.dspace.AbstractIntegrationTestWithDatabase;
 import org.dspace.app.launcher.ScriptLauncher;
 import org.dspace.app.scripts.handler.impl.TestDSpaceRunnableHandler;
@@ -99,6 +107,9 @@ public class DiscoveryIT extends AbstractIntegrationTestWithDatabase {
     MetadataAuthorityService metadataAuthorityService = ContentAuthorityServiceFactory.getInstance()
                                                                                       .getMetadataAuthorityService();
 
+    SolrSearchCore solrSearchCore = DSpaceServicesFactory.getInstance().getServiceManager()
+        .getServicesByType(SolrSearchCore.class).get(0);
+
     @Override
     @Before
     public void setUp() throws Exception {
@@ -799,6 +810,108 @@ public void searchWithDefaultSortServiceTest() throws SearchServiceException {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Test designed to check if metadatavalues with securitylevel are indexed.
+     * @throws SearchServiceException
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void searchWithMaxSecurityLevelSetTest() throws SearchServiceException {
+
+        configurationService.setProperty("discovery.index.securitylevel.maxlevel", 0);
+        DiscoveryConfiguration defaultConf = SearchUtils.getDiscoveryConfiguration(context, "default", null);
+
+        // Populate the testing objects: create items in eperson's workspace and perform search in it
+        int numberItems = 10;
+        context.turnOffAuthorisationSystem();
+        EPerson submitter = null;
+        try {
+            submitter = EPersonBuilder.createEPerson(context).withEmail("submitter@example.org")
+                .withNameInMetadata("Peter", "Funny").build();
+        } catch (SQLException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+        context.setCurrentUser(submitter);
+        Community community = CommunityBuilder.createCommunity(context).build();
+        Collection collection = CollectionBuilder.createCollection(context, community).build();
+        for (int i = 0; i < numberItems; i++) {
+            ItemBuilder.createItem(context, collection)
+                .withTitle("item " + i)
+                .withSecuredMetadata("dc", "description", "abstract", "secured" + i + ".", 1)
+                .withSecuredMetadata("dc", "description", "abstract", "secured" + i + ".", 2)
+                .withSecuredMetadata("dc", "description", "abstract", "nonsecured" + i + ".", 0)
+                .build();
+        }
+        context.restoreAuthSystemState();
+
+        // Build query with default parameters (except for workspaceConf)
+        QueryResponse result = null;
+        try {
+            result = solrSearchCore.getSolr().query(new SolrQuery(String.format(
+                "search.resourcetype:\"Item\"")));
+        } catch (SolrServerException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+        assertEquals(result.getResults().size(), numberItems);
+        for (SolrDocument doc : result.getResults()) {
+            assertThat(doc.getFieldNames(), hasItem("dc.description.abstract"));
+            assertThat(doc.getFieldValues("dc.description.abstract"), not(hasItem(startsWith("secured"))));
+            assertThat(doc.getFieldValues("dc.description.abstract"), hasItem(startsWith("nonsecured")));
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Test designed to check if metadatavalues with securitylevel greater than 0 are indexed.
+     * @throws SearchServiceException
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void searchWithMaxSecurityLevelGreater1SetTest() throws SearchServiceException {
+
+        configurationService.setProperty("discovery.index.securitylevel.maxlevel", 1);
+        DiscoveryConfiguration defaultConf = SearchUtils.getDiscoveryConfiguration(context, "default", null);
+
+        // Populate the testing objects: create items in eperson's workspace and perform search in it
+        int numberItems = 10;
+        context.turnOffAuthorisationSystem();
+        EPerson submitter = null;
+        try {
+            submitter = EPersonBuilder.createEPerson(context).withEmail("submitter@example.org")
+                .withNameInMetadata("Peter", "Funny").build();
+        } catch (SQLException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+        context.setCurrentUser(submitter);
+        Community community = CommunityBuilder.createCommunity(context).build();
+        Collection collection = CollectionBuilder.createCollection(context, community).build();
+        for (int i = 0; i < numberItems; i++) {
+            ItemBuilder.createItem(context, collection)
+                .withTitle("item " + i)
+                .withSecuredMetadata("dc", "description", "abstract", "nonsecured" + i + ".", 1)
+                .withSecuredMetadata("dc", "description", "abstract", "secured" + i + ".", 2)
+                .withSecuredMetadata("dc", "description", "abstract", "nonsecured" + i + ".", 0)
+                .build();
+        }
+        context.restoreAuthSystemState();
+
+        // Build query with default parameters (except for workspaceConf)
+        QueryResponse result = null;
+        try {
+            result = solrSearchCore.getSolr().query(new SolrQuery(String.format(
+                "search.resourcetype:\"Item\"")));
+        } catch (SolrServerException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+        assertEquals(result.getResults().size(), numberItems);
+        for (SolrDocument doc : result.getResults()) {
+            assertThat(doc.getFieldNames(), hasItem("dc.description.abstract"));
+            assertThat(doc.getFieldValues("dc.description.abstract"), not(hasItem(startsWith("secured"))));
+            assertThat(doc.getFieldValues("dc.description.abstract"), hasItem(startsWith("nonsecured")));
+        }
+    }
+
     private void assertSearchQuery(String resourceType, int size) throws SearchServiceException {
         assertSearchQuery(resourceType, size, size, 0, -1);
     }