diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 18e903b4..4de4ebbd 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -191,6 +191,7 @@ SQLITE_SOURCES := deps/sqlite/sqlite3.c
 SQLITE_OBJS := $(call get_objs,SQLITE_SOURCES)
 $(SQLITE_OBJS): CFLAGS += \
 	-DSQLITE_DBCONFIG_DEFAULT_DEFENSIVE \
+	-DSQLITE_ENABLE_FTS5 \
 	-DSQLITE_ENABLE_JSON1 \
 	-DSQLITE_MAX_LENGTH=5242880 \
 	-DSQLITE_MAX_SQL_LENGTH=100000 \
diff --git a/src/ssb.db.c b/src/ssb.db.c
index 54479f12..c1d588b9 100644
--- a/src/ssb.db.c
+++ b/src/ssb.db.c
@@ -26,6 +26,32 @@ static void _tf_ssb_db_exec(sqlite3* db, const char* statement)
 	}
 }
 
+static bool _tf_ssb_db_has_rows(sqlite3* db, const char* query)
+{
+	bool found = false;
+	sqlite3_stmt* statement = NULL;
+	if (sqlite3_prepare(db, query, -1, &statement, NULL) == SQLITE_OK)
+	{
+		int result = SQLITE_OK;
+		while ((result = sqlite3_step(statement)) == SQLITE_ROW)
+		{
+			found = true;
+		}
+		if (result != SQLITE_DONE)
+		{
+			printf("%s\n", sqlite3_errmsg(db));
+			abort();
+		}
+		sqlite3_finalize(statement);
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		printf("%s\n", sqlite3_errmsg(db));
+		abort();
+	}
+	return found;
+}
+
 void tf_ssb_db_init(tf_ssb_t* ssb)
 {
 	sqlite3* db = tf_ssb_get_db(ssb);
@@ -81,6 +107,18 @@ void tf_ssb_db_init(tf_ssb_t* ssb)
 		")");
 	_tf_ssb_db_exec(db, "CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS identities_user ON identities (user, public_key)");
 
+	if (!_tf_ssb_db_has_rows(db, "PRAGMA table_list('messages_fts')") ||
+		sqlite3_exec(db, "INSERT INTO messages_fts(messages_fts, rank) VALUES ('integrity-check', 1)", NULL, NULL, NULL) == SQLITE_CORRUPT_VTAB)
+	{
+		_tf_ssb_db_exec(db, "CREATE VIRTUAL TABLE IF NOT EXISTS messages_fts USING fts5(content, content=messages, content_rowid=rowid)");
+		printf("Populating full-text search...\n");
+		_tf_ssb_db_exec(db, "INSERT INTO messages_fts (rowid, content) SELECT rowid, content FROM messages");
+		printf("Done.\n");
+	}
+
+	_tf_ssb_db_exec(db, "CREATE TRIGGER IF NOT EXISTS messages_ai AFTER INSERT ON messages BEGIN INSERT INTO messages_fts(rowid, content) VALUES (new.rowid, new.content); END");
+	_tf_ssb_db_exec(db, "CREATE TRIGGER IF NOT EXISTS messages_ad AFTER DELETE ON messages BEGIN INSERT INTO messages_fts(messages_fts, rowid, content) VALUES ('delete', old.rowid, old.content); END");
+
 	bool need_add_sequence_before_author = true;
 	bool need_convert_timestamp_to_real = false;
 
@@ -536,12 +574,14 @@ static int _tf_ssb_sqlite_authorizer(void* user_data, int action_code, const cha
 			strcmp(arg0, "blob_wants") == 0 ||
 			strcmp(arg0, "json_each") == 0 ||
 			strcmp(arg0, "messages") == 0 ||
+			strcmp(arg0, "messages_fts") == 0 ||
+			strcmp(arg0, "messages_fts_idx") == 0 ||
 			strcmp(arg0, "sqlite_master") == 0 ||
 			false)
 			? SQLITE_OK : SQLITE_DENY;
 		break;
-	case SQLITE_UPDATE:
-		return SQLITE_OK;
+	case SQLITE_PRAGMA:
+		return strcmp(arg0, "data_version") == 0 ? SQLITE_OK : SQLITE_DENY;
 	}
 	return SQLITE_DENY;
 }