diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 80eb67a55..ad526b04a 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -496,6 +496,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "hex 0.3.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "image-meta 0.1.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "imap 1.0.2 (git+https://github.com/deltachat/rust-imap)",
+ "indoc 0.3.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "itertools 0.8.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "jetscii 0.4.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "lazy_static 1.4.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
@@ -1033,6 +1034,27 @@ dependencies = [
  "autocfg 0.1.7 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "indoc"
+version = "0.3.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+dependencies = [
+ "indoc-impl 0.3.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "proc-macro-hack 0.5.11 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "indoc-impl"
+version = "0.3.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro-hack 0.5.11 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "proc-macro2 1.0.6 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "quote 1.0.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "syn 1.0.7 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "unindent 0.1.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "iovec"
 version = "0.1.4"
@@ -1581,6 +1603,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "log 0.4.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "proc-macro-hack"
+version = "0.5.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2 1.0.6 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "quote 1.0.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "syn 1.0.7 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "proc-macro2"
 version = "0.4.30"
@@ -2589,6 +2621,11 @@ name = "unicode-xid"
 version = "0.2.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "unindent"
+version = "0.1.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "unsafe-any"
 version = "0.4.2"
@@ -2917,6 +2954,8 @@ dependencies = [
 "checksum imap 1.0.2 (git+https://github.com/deltachat/rust-imap)" = "<none>"
 "checksum imap-proto 0.9.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "1b92ca529b24c5f80a950abe993d3883df6fe6791d4a46b1fda1eb339796c589"
 "checksum indexmap 1.3.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "712d7b3ea5827fcb9d4fda14bf4da5f136f0db2ae9c8f4bd4e2d1c6fde4e6db2"
+"checksum indoc 0.3.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "3f9553c1e16c114b8b77ebeb329e5f2876eed62a8d51178c8bc6bff0d65f98f8"
+"checksum indoc-impl 0.3.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "b714fc08d0961716390977cdff1536234415ac37b509e34e5a983def8340fb75"
 "checksum iovec 0.1.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "b2b3ea6ff95e175473f8ffe6a7eb7c00d054240321b84c57051175fe3c1e075e"
 "checksum itertools 0.8.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "87fa75c9dea7b07be3138c49abbb83fd4bea199b5cdc76f9804458edc5da0d6e"
 "checksum itoa 0.4.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "501266b7edd0174f8530248f87f99c88fbe60ca4ef3dd486835b8d8d53136f7f"
@@ -2974,6 +3013,7 @@ dependencies = [
 "checksum ppv-lite86 0.2.6 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "74490b50b9fbe561ac330df47c08f3f33073d2d00c150f719147d7c54522fa1b"
 "checksum pretty_assertions 0.6.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "3f81e1644e1b54f5a68959a29aa86cde704219254669da328ecfdf6a1f09d427"
 "checksum pretty_env_logger 0.3.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "717ee476b1690853d222af4634056d830b5197ffd747726a9a1eee6da9f49074"
+"checksum proc-macro-hack 0.5.11 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "ecd45702f76d6d3c75a80564378ae228a85f0b59d2f3ed43c91b4a69eb2ebfc5"
 "checksum proc-macro2 0.4.30 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "cf3d2011ab5c909338f7887f4fc896d35932e29146c12c8d01da6b22a80ba759"
 "checksum proc-macro2 1.0.6 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "9c9e470a8dc4aeae2dee2f335e8f533e2d4b347e1434e5671afc49b054592f27"
 "checksum proptest 0.9.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "cf147e022eacf0c8a054ab864914a7602618adba841d800a9a9868a5237a529f"
@@ -3083,6 +3123,7 @@ dependencies = [
 "checksum unicode-xid 0.0.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "8c1f860d7d29cf02cb2f3f359fd35991af3d30bac52c57d265a3c461074cb4dc"
 "checksum unicode-xid 0.1.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "fc72304796d0818e357ead4e000d19c9c174ab23dc11093ac919054d20a6a7fc"
 "checksum unicode-xid 0.2.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "826e7639553986605ec5979c7dd957c7895e93eabed50ab2ffa7f6128a75097c"
+"checksum unindent 0.1.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "63f18aa3b0e35fed5a0048f029558b1518095ffe2a0a31fb87c93dece93a4993"
 "checksum unsafe-any 0.4.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "f30360d7979f5e9c6e6cea48af192ea8fab4afb3cf72597154b8f08935bc9c7f"
 "checksum url 1.7.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "dd4e7c0d531266369519a4aa4f399d748bd37043b00bde1e4ff1f60a120b355a"
 "checksum url 2.1.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "75b414f6c464c879d7f9babf951f23bc3743fb7313c081b2e6ca719067ea9d61"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 1f9231109..8c74b7588 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ bitflags = "1.1.0"
 jetscii = "0.4.4"
 debug_stub_derive = "0.3.0"
 sanitize-filename = "0.2.1"
+indoc = "0.3"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 tempfile = "3.0"
diff --git a/src/sql.rs b/src/sql.rs
index 2923083b4..f33ebb2fc 100644
--- a/src/sql.rs
+++ b/src/sql.rs
@@ -1172,6 +1172,29 @@ fn maybe_add_from_param(
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod test {
     use super::*;
+    use indoc::indoc;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_literals() {
+        // sql formatted with the rust-multiline-literal will easily fail.
+        let a = "SELECT a\
+                 FROM b";
+        assert_eq!(a, "SELECT aFROM b");
+
+        // sql formatted with the concat-macro with also easily fail.
+        // also you cannot convince `cargo fmt` to align the statements.
+        let a = concat!("SELECT a", "FROM b");
+        assert_eq!(a, "SELECT aFROM b");
+
+        // the indoc-macro keeps lineends so that spaces are not needed.
+        // sqlite treats the lineends as normal whitespace so things are fine.
+        // also `cargo fmt` does not destroy the layout and there is less boilerplate.
+        let a = indoc!(
+            "SELECT a
+             FROM b"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(a, "SELECT a\nFROM b");
+    }
 
     #[test]
     fn test_maybe_add_file() {