diff --git a/src/ssb.db.c b/src/ssb.db.c
index 6713b3c6..9456d22c 100644
--- a/src/ssb.db.c
+++ b/src/ssb.db.c
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ void tf_ssb_db_init(tf_ssb_t* ssb)
 	_tf_ssb_db_exec(db, "CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS messages_author_timestamp_index ON messages (author, timestamp)");
 	_tf_ssb_db_exec(db, "CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS messages_timestamp_index ON messages (timestamp)");
 	_tf_ssb_db_exec(db, "CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS messages_type_timestamp_index ON messages (content ->> 'type', timestamp)");
+	_tf_ssb_db_exec(db, "CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS messages_size_by_author_index ON messages (author, length(content))");
 	_tf_ssb_db_exec(db,
 		"CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS blobs ("
 		"  id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,"