diff --git a/db/migrations/20260615010718_add_like_search_covering_indexes.sql b/db/migrations/20260615010718_add_like_search_covering_indexes.sql
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f6682d182
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrations/20260615010718_add_like_search_covering_indexes.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+-- +goose Up
+-- COLLATE NOCASE covering indexes for the LIKE-based search fallback (CJK and
+-- punctuation-only queries route to it; see persistence/sql_search_like.go
+-- likeSearchColumns). Without these, a CJK search3 is a full scan of the wide
+-- media_file table across 4 columns (~4s on 1M songs); with them SQLite scans the
+-- narrow per-column indexes instead (~0.3s). Columns MUST match likeSearchColumns.
+-- A plain LIKE uses these because Navidrome runs with case_sensitive_like = OFF.
+CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_media_file_title_nocase ON media_file (title COLLATE NOCASE);
+CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_media_file_album_nocase ON media_file (album COLLATE NOCASE);
+CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_media_file_artist_nocase ON media_file (artist COLLATE NOCASE);
+CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_media_file_album_artist_nocase ON media_file (album_artist COLLATE NOCASE);
+CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_album_name_nocase ON album (name COLLATE NOCASE);
+CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_album_album_artist_nocase ON album (album_artist COLLATE NOCASE);
+CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_artist_name_nocase ON artist (name COLLATE NOCASE);
+
+-- +goose Down
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS idx_media_file_title_nocase;
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS idx_media_file_album_nocase;
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS idx_media_file_artist_nocase;
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS idx_media_file_album_artist_nocase;
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS idx_album_name_nocase;
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS idx_album_album_artist_nocase;
+DROP INDEX IF EXISTS idx_artist_name_nocase;
diff --git a/persistence/sql_search_like.go b/persistence/sql_search_like.go
index 972545ac5..b9e175b9a 100644
--- a/persistence/sql_search_like.go
+++ b/persistence/sql_search_like.go
@@ -71,6 +71,10 @@ func legacySearchExpr(tableName string, s string) Sqlizer {
 // likeSearchColumns defines the core columns to search with LIKE queries.
 // These are the primary user-visible fields for each entity type.
 // Used as a fallback when FTS5 cannot handle the query (e.g., CJK text, punctuation-only input).
+//
+// Each column needs a matching COLLATE NOCASE index (migration
+// add_like_search_covering_indexes) so these LIKE scans hit a narrow covering index
+// instead of the full table. The "likeSearchColumns covering indexes" test enforces this.
 var likeSearchColumns = map[string][]string{
 	"media_file": {"title", "album", "artist", "album_artist"},
 	"album":      {"name", "album_artist"},
diff --git a/persistence/sql_search_like_test.go b/persistence/sql_search_like_test.go
index 8ee4ef93c..d051e0fcf 100644
--- a/persistence/sql_search_like_test.go
+++ b/persistence/sql_search_like_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package persistence
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"regexp"
 
 	"github.com/navidrome/navidrome/conf"
 	"github.com/navidrome/navidrome/conf/configtest"
@@ -132,3 +134,37 @@ var _ = Describe("Legacy Integration Search", func() {
 		Expect(results).ToNot(BeEmpty(), "Max=0 should mean no limit, not LIMIT 0")
 	})
 })
+
+// Guards the invariant that every column searched by the LIKE fallback has a COLLATE NOCASE
+// covering index (migration add_like_search_covering_indexes). Without it a CJK/punctuation
+// search does a full table scan. If you add a column to likeSearchColumns without an index,
+// this test fails — keep the two in sync.
+var _ = Describe("likeSearchColumns covering indexes", func() {
+	It("has a COLLATE NOCASE index for every searched column", func() {
+		var indexSQLs []string
+		err := GetDBXBuilder().
+			NewQuery("SELECT sql FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='index' AND sql IS NOT NULL").
+			Column(&indexSQLs)
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+		for table, columns := range likeSearchColumns {
+			// Match the index's target table precisely: "ON <table> (" (case-insensitive).
+			tableRe := regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)\bon\s+` + regexp.QuoteMeta(table) + `\s*\(`)
+			for _, col := range columns {
+				// Match e.g. "(title COLLATE NOCASE)" — column immediately followed by the
+				// NOCASE collation, case-insensitive (SQLite emits both "COLLATE" and "collate").
+				colRe := regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)\b` + regexp.QuoteMeta(col) + `\s+collate\s+nocase\b`)
+				found := false
+				for _, sql := range indexSQLs {
+					if tableRe.MatchString(sql) && colRe.MatchString(sql) {
+						found = true
+						break
+					}
+				}
+				Expect(found).To(BeTrue(),
+					fmt.Sprintf("missing COLLATE NOCASE index for %s.%s — add it to the "+
+						"add_like_search_covering_indexes migration to keep LIKE search fast", table, col))
+			}
+		}
+	})
+})