diff --git a/src/background.js b/src/background.js
index c256872f5..e0b64a216 100644
--- a/src/background.js
+++ b/src/background.js
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import tabInfo from './classes/TabInfo';
 import metrics from './classes/Metrics';
 import account from './classes/Account';
 import promoModals from './classes/PromoModals';
+import SearchMessager from './classes/SearchMessager';
 // utilities
 import { allowAllwaysC2P } from './utils/click2play';
 import * as common from './utils/common';
@@ -1622,6 +1623,18 @@ function initializeGhosteryModules() {
 	});
 }
 
+/**
+ * Initialize Search Message Handler on Ghostery Browser.
+ * @memberOf Background
+ */
+async function initializeSearchMessageHandler() {
+	await globals.BROWSER_INFO_READY; // ensure browser info is set
+	if (BROWSER_INFO.name === 'ghostery_desktop') {
+		const sm = new SearchMessager();
+		sm.init();
+	}
+}
+
 /**
  * Application Initializer
  * Called whenever the browser starts or the extension is
@@ -1633,6 +1646,7 @@ function init() {
 		initializePopup();
 		initializeEventListeners();
 		initializeVersioning();
+		initializeSearchMessageHandler();
 		return metrics.init(globals.JUST_INSTALLED).then(() => initializeGhosteryModules().then(() => {
 			account.migrate()
 				.then(() => {
diff --git a/src/classes/Account.js b/src/classes/Account.js
index c65ba35f7..47e18ce82 100644
--- a/src/classes/Account.js
+++ b/src/classes/Account.js
@@ -142,6 +142,8 @@ class Account {
 		})
 	)
 
+	refreshToken = () => api.refreshToken()
+
 	// @TODO a 404 here should trigger a logout
 	getUser = () => (
 		this._getUserID()
diff --git a/src/classes/SearchMessager.js b/src/classes/SearchMessager.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a5091e1db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/classes/SearchMessager.js
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/**
+ * Search Messager
+ *
+ * Ghostery Browser Extension
+ * https://www.ghostery.com/
+ *
+ * Copyright 2020 Ghostery, Inc. All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+ * License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+ * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0
+ */
+
+import ExtMessenger from './ExtMessenger';
+import account from './Account';
+import { log } from '../utils/common';
+
+/**
+ * @since 8.5.5
+ *
+ * Class for handling cross-extension messaging.
+ * @memberOf  BackgroundClasses
+ */
+export default class SearchMessager {
+	constructor() {
+		this.extensionId = 'search@ghostery.com';
+		this._messageHandler = this._messageHandler.bind(this);
+	}
+
+	init() {
+		ExtMessenger.addListener(this._messageHandler);
+	}
+
+	unload() {
+		ExtMessenger.removeListener(this._messageHandler);
+	}
+
+	_messageHandler(message, sender, sendResponse) {
+		if (sender.id !== this.extensionId) {
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		// allow search extension to refresh token
+		if (message === 'refreshToken') {
+			account.refreshToken()
+				.then(() => sendResponse({ success: true }))
+				.catch(error => sendResponse({ success: false, error }));
+			return true;
+		}
+		log('SearchMessager error: Unhandled message', message);
+		return false;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/utils/api.js b/src/utils/api.js
index 3ebea93d7..309ded82d 100644
--- a/src/utils/api.js
+++ b/src/utils/api.js
@@ -15,8 +15,7 @@ export const _getJSONAPIErrorsObject = e => [{ title: e.message || '', detail: e
 
 class Api {
 	constructor() {
-		this.isRefreshing = false;
-		this.tokenRefreshedEventType = 'tokenRefreshed';
+		this._refreshPromise = null;
 	}
 
 	init(config, opts) {
@@ -27,24 +26,17 @@ class Api {
 		}
 	}
 
-	_refreshToken() {
-		if (this.isRefreshing) {
-			let bindedResolve;
-			const _processRefreshTokenEvent = (resolve, e) => {
-				window.removeEventListener(this.tokenRefreshedEventType, bindedResolve, false);
-				resolve(e.detail);
-			};
-			return new Promise((resolve) => {
-				bindedResolve = _processRefreshTokenEvent.bind(null, resolve);
-				window.addEventListener(this.tokenRefreshedEventType, bindedResolve, false);
-			});
+	refreshToken() {
+		if (this._refreshPromise) {
+			return this._refreshPromise;
 		}
 
-		this.isRefreshing = true;
-		return fetch(`${this.config.AUTH_SERVER}/api/v2/refresh_token`, {
+		this._refreshPromise = fetch(`${this.config.AUTH_SERVER}/api/v2/refresh_token`, {
 			method: 'POST',
 			credentials: 'include',
-		});
+		}).finally(() => { this._refreshPromise = null; });
+
+		return this._refreshPromise;
 	}
 
 	_sendReq(method, path, body) {
@@ -107,12 +99,8 @@ class Api {
 						});
 					}
 					if (shouldRefresh) {
-						this._refreshToken()
+						this.refreshToken()
 							.then((res) => {
-								this.isRefreshing = false;
-								window.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent(this.tokenRefreshedEventType, {
-									detail: res,
-								}));
 								const { status } = res;
 								if (status >= 400) {
 									res.json().then(data2 => (
@@ -129,7 +117,8 @@ class Api {
 											.then(() => resolve(data3))
 											.catch(err => reject(err));
 									});
-							});
+							})
+							.catch(err => reject(err));
 					} else {
 						this._errorHandler(data.errors)
 							.then(() => resolve(data))