diff --git a/src/ssb.db.c b/src/ssb.db.c
index 3d874f4ed..9dd8ee59e 100644
--- a/src/ssb.db.c
+++ b/src/ssb.db.c
@@ -178,11 +178,11 @@ void tf_ssb_db_init(tf_ssb_t* ssb)
 	if (populate_fts)
 	{
 		tf_printf("Populating full-text search...\n");
-		_tf_ssb_db_exec(db, "INSERT INTO messages_fts (rowid, content) SELECT rowid, content FROM messages");
+		_tf_ssb_db_exec(db, "INSERT INTO messages_fts (rowid, content) SELECT rowid, json(content) FROM messages");
 		tf_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_ai AFTER INSERT ON messages BEGIN INSERT INTO messages_fts(rowid, content) VALUES (new.rowid, json(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");