Police were searching on Thursday for three prisoners who broke out of jail after one of them convinced an officer to open the cell door by asking for toilet paper.

The three were among five prisoners who broke out of a courthouse holding cell in Maroochydore, near the Queensland state capital of Brisbane. Two were recaptured almost immediately.

Police said one of them had asked a female officer for a roll of toilet paper but the solid cell door had no hatch and had to be opened to hand the paper in.

It was then the prisoners inside made a run for it.

"It was an old-style door and a prisoner asked for a roll of toilet paper, and it couldn't fit under the door," Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson told reporters.

"It could well have been a matter that was avoidable and subject to human error," he said.

Two police suffered minor injuries during the incident.

Less than a month ago, another prisoner escaped from Queensland police custody after an officer let him out of a car to have a cigarette.