diff --git a/django/contrib/admin/templates/admin/search_form.html b/django/contrib/admin/templates/admin/search_form.html
index 7f65211582..ad86af91cf 100644
--- a/django/contrib/admin/templates/admin/search_form.html
+++ b/django/contrib/admin/templates/admin/search_form.html
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 <div id="toolbar"><form id="changelist-search" method="get">
 <div><!-- DIV needed for valid HTML -->
 <label for="searchbar"><img src="{% static "admin/img/search.svg" %}" alt="Search"></label>
-<input type="text" size="40" name="{{ search_var }}" value="{{ cl.query }}" id="searchbar" autofocus{% if cl.search_help_text %} aria-describedby="searchbar_helptext"{% endif %}>
+<input type="text" size="40" name="{{ search_var }}" value="{{ cl.query }}" id="searchbar"{% if cl.search_help_text %} aria-describedby="searchbar_helptext"{% endif %}>
 <input type="submit" value="{% translate 'Search' %}">
 {% if show_result_count %}
     <span class="small quiet">{% blocktranslate count counter=cl.result_count %}{{ counter }} result{% plural %}{{ counter }} results{% endblocktranslate %} (<a href="?{% if cl.is_popup %}{{ is_popup_var }}=1{% endif %}">{% if cl.show_full_result_count %}{% blocktranslate with full_result_count=cl.full_result_count %}{{ full_result_count }} total{% endblocktranslate %}{% else %}{% translate "Show all" %}{% endif %}</a>)</span>
diff --git a/docs/releases/4.2.txt b/docs/releases/4.2.txt
index 80c0d97bfc..2520d14361 100644
--- a/docs/releases/4.2.txt
+++ b/docs/releases/4.2.txt
@@ -319,6 +319,9 @@ Miscellaneous
 * :ttag:`{% blocktranslate asvar … %}<blocktranslate>` result is now marked as
   safe for (HTML) output purposes.
 
+* The ``autofocus`` HTML attribute in the admin search box is removed as it can
+  be confusing for screen readers.
+
 .. _deprecated-features-4.2:
 
 Features deprecated in 4.2
diff --git a/tests/admin_changelist/tests.py b/tests/admin_changelist/tests.py
index 24c24a670b..b85d5383cd 100644
--- a/tests/admin_changelist/tests.py
+++ b/tests/admin_changelist/tests.py
@@ -1537,7 +1537,7 @@ class ChangeListTests(TestCase):
         self.assertContains(
             response,
             '<input type="text" size="40" name="q" value="" id="searchbar" '
-            'autofocus aria-describedby="searchbar_helptext">',
+            'aria-describedby="searchbar_helptext">',
         )