diff --git a/src/engine/termgenerator.cpp b/src/engine/termgenerator.cpp
--- a/src/engine/termgenerator.cpp
+++ b/src/engine/termgenerator.cpp
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@
 
             str = cleanString.normalized(QString::NormalizationForm_KC);
             if (!str.isEmpty()) {
-                list << str.toUtf8();
+                // Truncate the string to avoid arbitrarily long terms
+                list << str.leftRef(maxTermSize).toUtf8();
             }
         }
     }
@@ -85,7 +86,6 @@
     const QByteArrayList terms = termList(text);
     for (const QByteArray& term : terms) {
         QByteArray finalArr = prefix + term;
-        finalArr = finalArr.mid(0, maxTermSize);
 
         m_doc.addPositionTerm(finalArr, m_position);
         m_position++;
@@ -97,7 +97,6 @@
     const QByteArrayList terms = termList(text);
     for (const QByteArray& term : terms) {
         QByteArray finalArr = prefix + term;
-        finalArr = finalArr.mid(0, maxTermSize);
 
         m_doc.addFileNamePositionTerm(finalArr, m_position);
         m_position++;
@@ -114,7 +113,6 @@
     const QByteArrayList terms = termList(text);
     for (const QByteArray& term : terms) {
         QByteArray finalArr = prefix + term;
-        finalArr = finalArr.mid(0, maxTermSize);
 
         m_doc.addXattrPositionTerm(finalArr, m_position);
         m_position++;
diff --git a/src/lib/searchstore.cpp b/src/lib/searchstore.cpp
--- a/src/lib/searchstore.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/searchstore.cpp
@@ -328,7 +328,13 @@
     int position = 1;
     for (const QByteArray& term : terms) {
         QByteArray arr = prefix + term;
-        queries << EngineQuery(arr, position++);
+        // FIXME - compatibility hack, to find truncated terms with old
+        // DBs, remove on next DB bump
+        if (arr.size() > 25) {
+            queries << EngineQuery(arr.left(25), EngineQuery::StartsWith, position++);
+        } else {
+            queries << EngineQuery(arr, position++);
+        }
     }
 
     if (queries.isEmpty()) {