diff --git a/apps/files_sharing/lib/Controller/ShareesController.php b/apps/files_sharing/lib/Controller/ShareesController.php
index d907c5f7a371..63ea141f7274 100644
--- a/apps/files_sharing/lib/Controller/ShareesController.php
+++ b/apps/files_sharing/lib/Controller/ShareesController.php
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 use OCP\IUserManager;
 use OCP\IUserSession;
 use OCP\Share;
+use OCA\Files_Sharing\AppInfo\Application;
 use OCA\Files_Sharing\SharingBlacklist;
 use OCP\Util\UserSearch;
 
@@ -381,6 +382,18 @@ protected function getGroups($search) {
 	 * @return void
 	 */
 	protected function getRemote($search) {
+		$pluginClass = $this->config->getSystemValue('sharing.remoteShareesSearch');
+		if ($pluginClass !== '') {
+			$this->result['remotes'] = [];
+			$app = new Application();
+			$container = $app->getContainer();
+			/** @var \OCP\Share\IRemoteShareesSearch $plugin */
+			$plugin = $container->query($pluginClass);
+			$result = $plugin->search($search);
+			$this->result['exact']['remotes'] = $result;
+			$this->reachedEndFor[] = 'remotes';
+			return;
+		}
 		$this->result['remotes'] = [];
 		// Fetch remote search properties from app config
 		/**
diff --git a/apps/files_sharing/tests/API/ShareesTest.php b/apps/files_sharing/tests/API/ShareesTest.php
index 364a5401ba6a..dd869cbfa1dd 100644
--- a/apps/files_sharing/tests/API/ShareesTest.php
+++ b/apps/files_sharing/tests/API/ShareesTest.php
@@ -1513,7 +1513,8 @@ public function testGetRemote($searchTerm, $contacts, $shareeEnumeration, $exact
 
 		$configMap = [
 			['trusted_domains', [], ['trusted.domain.tld', 'trusted2.domain.tld']],
-			['accounts.enable_medial_search', true, true]
+			['accounts.enable_medial_search', true, true],
+			['sharing.remoteShareesSearch', '', '']
 		];
 
 		$this->config->expects($this->any())
diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/40577 b/changelog/unreleased/40577
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..02ebc8dcb44e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/40577
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+Enhancement: Add support for OCM via ScienceMesh
+
+
+We've added an if-statement in the files_sharing ShareesController
+code that searches for remote sharees. When the 'sciencemesh' app
+is installed, use it instead of the federatedfilesharing app to
+find sharee matches for OCM sharing.
+
+https://github.com/owncloud/core/issues/40577
+https://github.com/pondersource/oc-sciencemesh/pull/39
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/public/Share/IRemoteShareesSearch.php b/lib/public/Share/IRemoteShareesSearch.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..0f3ce75d97e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/public/Share/IRemoteShareesSearch.php
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * @author Michiel de Jong <michiel@pondersource.com>
+ *
+ * @copyright Copyright (c) 2018, ownCloud GmbH
+ * @license AGPL-3.0
+ *
+ * This code is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3,
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3,
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>
+ *
+ */
+
+namespace OCP\Share;
+
+/**
+ * Interface IRemoteShareesSearch
+ * Used in the ShareesController of the files_sharing app.
+ * See the 'sciencemesh' app for an example implementation
+ * of this interface.
+ *
+ * @package OCP\Share
+ * @since 10.12.0
+ */
+interface IRemoteShareesSearch {
+	/**
+	 * Return the identifier of this provider.
+	 * @param string search string for autocomplete
+	 * @return array[] this function should return an array
+	 * where each element is an associative array, containing:
+	 * - label: a string to display as label
+	 * - value: an associative array containing:
+	 *   - shareType: int, to be used as share type
+	 *   - shareWith: string, identifying the sharee
+	 *   - server (optional): string, URL of the server, e.g.
+	 * https://github.com/owncloud/core/blob/v10.12.0-beta.1/apps/files_sharing/lib/Controller/ShareesController.php#L421
+	 *
+	 * @since 10.12.0
+	 */
+	public function search($search);
+}