diff --git a/system/Helpers/array_helper.php b/system/Helpers/array_helper.php
index b5350cdd8b70..9d2b44876cc9 100644
--- a/system/Helpers/array_helper.php
+++ b/system/Helpers/array_helper.php
@@ -89,8 +89,8 @@ function _array_search_dot(array $indexes, array $array)
             return _array_search_dot($indexes, $array[$currentIndex]);
         }
 
-        // Otherwise we've found our match!
-        return $array[$currentIndex];
+        // Otherwise, not found.
+        return null;
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/system/Helpers/ArrayHelperTest.php b/tests/system/Helpers/ArrayHelperTest.php
index 59257fbab7d6..50c6f94f4bfc 100644
--- a/tests/system/Helpers/ArrayHelperTest.php
+++ b/tests/system/Helpers/ArrayHelperTest.php
@@ -45,7 +45,16 @@ public function testArrayDotTooManyLevels()
             ],
         ];
 
-        $this->assertSame(23, dot_array_search('foo.bar.baz', $data));
+        $this->assertNull(dot_array_search('foo.bar.baz', $data));
+    }
+
+    public function testArrayDotTooManyLevelsWithWildCard()
+    {
+        $data = [
+            'a' => [],
+        ];
+
+        $this->assertNull(dot_array_search('a.*.c', $data));
     }
 
     /**
@@ -77,15 +86,24 @@ public function testArrayDotEscape()
 
     public function testArraySearchDotMultiLevels()
     {
-        $data1 = ['bar' => [['foo' => 'baz']]];
-        $data2 = ['bar' => [
-            ['foo' => 'bizz'],
-            ['foo' => 'buzz'],
-        ]];
-        $data3 = ['baz' => 'none'];
-
+        $data1 = [
+            'bar' => [
+                ['foo' => 'baz'],
+            ],
+        ];
         $this->assertSame('baz', dot_array_search('bar.*.foo', $data1));
+
+        $data2 = [
+            'bar' => [
+                ['foo' => 'bizz'],
+                ['foo' => 'buzz'],
+            ],
+        ];
         $this->assertSame(['bizz', 'buzz'], dot_array_search('bar.*.foo', $data2));
+
+        $data3 = [
+            'baz' => 'none',
+        ];
         $this->assertNull(dot_array_search('bar.*.foo', $data3));
     }
 
diff --git a/user_guide_src/source/changelogs/v4.2.0.rst b/user_guide_src/source/changelogs/v4.2.0.rst
index 32129c30c4eb..b314dd892794 100644
--- a/user_guide_src/source/changelogs/v4.2.0.rst
+++ b/user_guide_src/source/changelogs/v4.2.0.rst
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ BREAKING
 - The color code output by :ref:`CLI::color() <cli-library-color>` has been changed to fix a bug.
 - To prevent unexpected access from the web browser, if a controller is added to a cli route (``$routes->cli()``), all methods of that controller are no longer accessible via auto-routing.
 - There is a possible backward compatibility break for those users extending the History Collector and they should probably update ``History::setFiles()`` method.
+- The :php:func:`dot_array_search`'s unexpected behavior has been fixed. Now ``dot_array_search('foo.bar.baz', ['foo' => ['bar' => 23]])`` returns ``null``. The previous versions returned ``23``.
 
 Enhancements
 ************
diff --git a/user_guide_src/source/helpers/array_helper.rst b/user_guide_src/source/helpers/array_helper.rst
index 845ccccf39b4..cf9517925234 100644
--- a/user_guide_src/source/helpers/array_helper.rst
+++ b/user_guide_src/source/helpers/array_helper.rst
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ The following functions are available:
 
     .. literalinclude:: array_helper/005.php
 
+.. note:: Prior to v4.2.0, ``dot_array_search('foo.bar.baz', ['foo' => ['bar' => 23]])`` returned ``23``
+    due to a bug. v4.2.0 and later returns ``null``.
+
 ..  php:function:: array_deep_search($key, array $array)
 
     :param  mixed  $key: The target key