diff --git a/system/database/drivers/oci8/oci8_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/oci8/oci8_driver.php
index 42dd517..1fdb1bc 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/oci8/oci8_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/oci8/oci8_driver.php
@@ -47,7 +47,11 @@
 	
 	// The character used for excaping
 	var $_escape_char = '"';
-
+	
+	// clause and character used for LIKE escape sequences
+	var $_like_escape_str = " escape '%s' ";
+	var $_like_escape_chr = '!';
+	
 	/**
 	 * The syntax to count rows is slightly different across different
 	 * database engines, so this string appears in each driver and is
@@ -368,14 +372,35 @@
 	 *
 	 * @access  public
 	 * @param   string
+	 * @param	bool	whether or not the string will be used in a LIKE condition
 	 * @return  string
 	 */
-	function escape_str($str)
+	function escape_str($str, $like = FALSE)
 	{
+		if (is_array($str))
+		{
+			foreach($str as $key => $val)
+	   		{
+				$str[$key] = $this->escape_str($val, $like);
+	   		}
+   		
+	   		return $str;
+	   	}
+
 		// Access the CI object
 		$CI =& get_instance();
 
-		return $CI->input->_remove_invisible_characters($str);
+		$str = $CI->input->_remove_invisible_characters($str);
+		
+		// escape LIKE condition wildcards
+		if ($like === TRUE)
+		{
+			$str = str_replace(	array('%', '_', $this->_like_escape_chr),
+								array($this->_like_escape_chr.'%', $this->_like_escape_chr.'_', $this->_like_escape_chr.$this->_like_escape_chr),
+								$str);
+		}
+		
+		return $str;
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------