diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 84273b0be..0a6b7c655 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -221,6 +221,7 @@ $(SQLITE_OBJS): CFLAGS += \
 	-DSQLITE_DBCONFIG_DEFAULT_DEFENSIVE \
 	-DSQLITE_ENABLE_FTS5 \
 	-DSQLITE_ENABLE_JSON1 \
+	-DSQLITE_THREADSAFE=1 \
 	-DSQLITE_MAX_LENGTH=5242880 \
 	-DSQLITE_MAX_SQL_LENGTH=100000 \
 	-DSQLITE_MAX_COLUMN=100 \
diff --git a/src/ssb.c b/src/ssb.c
index 51bed2b28..859818a64 100644
--- a/src/ssb.c
+++ b/src/ssb.c
@@ -2148,6 +2148,7 @@ sqlite3* tf_ssb_acquire_db_reader(tf_ssb_t* ssb)
 	else
 	{
 		sqlite3_open_v2(ssb->db_path, &db, SQLITE_OPEN_READONLY, NULL);
+		tf_ssb_db_init_reader(db);
 	}
 	uv_mutex_unlock(&ssb->db_readers_lock);
 	return db;
diff --git a/src/ssb.db.c b/src/ssb.db.c
index e57ad8f19..92bd2d54f 100644
--- a/src/ssb.db.c
+++ b/src/ssb.db.c
@@ -53,10 +53,16 @@ static bool _tf_ssb_db_has_rows(sqlite3* db, const char* query)
 
 static void _tf_ssb_db_init_internal(sqlite3* db)
 {
+	sqlite3_extended_result_codes(db, 1);
 	_tf_ssb_db_exec(db, "PRAGMA journal_mode = WAL");
 	_tf_ssb_db_exec(db, "PRAGMA synchronous = NORMAL");
 }
 
+void tf_ssb_db_init_reader(sqlite3* db)
+{
+	_tf_ssb_db_init_internal(db);
+}
+
 void tf_ssb_db_init(tf_ssb_t* ssb)
 {
 	sqlite3* db = tf_ssb_get_db(ssb);
diff --git a/src/ssb.db.h b/src/ssb.db.h
index ae75d9722..b2ffa3479 100644
--- a/src/ssb.db.h
+++ b/src/ssb.db.h
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 typedef struct _tf_ssb_t tf_ssb_t;
 
 void tf_ssb_db_init(tf_ssb_t* ssb);
+void tf_ssb_db_init_reader(sqlite3* db);
 bool tf_ssb_db_store_message(tf_ssb_t* ssb, JSContext* context, const char* id, JSValue val, const char* signature, bool sequence_before_author);
 bool tf_ssb_db_message_content_get(tf_ssb_t* ssb, const char* id, uint8_t** out_blob, size_t* out_size);
 bool tf_ssb_db_blob_has(tf_ssb_t* ssb, const char* id);