It seems as though all WordPress sites that I’m supporting for various clients has this same functionality — if the site is using a static homepage, and you visit the homepage with a query string containing + signs — the page is redirected (301) and the plus signs are turned into %20 — Interior pages and posts do NOT suffer this same effect.

For example (I am not supporting this site, just using it as an example):

/?test=test+test (redirect occurs)

/?test=test+test (no redirect occurs)

Another example:

/?test=test+test (redirect occurs)

/?test=test+test (no redirect)

Our site analyst (SEO, tracking, etc) uses plus signs in his data and this can be problematic. It seems that the homepage should NOT be doing this.

Is there a way to override this functionality, or is this a bug in WordPress?

This also does not seem affect sites that don’t use the “static homepage” option.