diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index ad70e49b1..142ad4b56 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -107,6 +107,10 @@ harness = false
 name = "contacts"
 harness = false
 
+[[bench]]
+name = "search_msgs"
+harness = false
+
 [features]
 default = []
 internals = []
diff --git a/benches/search_msgs.rs b/benches/search_msgs.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..efd19ed6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benches/search_msgs.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+use async_std::task::block_on;
+use criterion::{black_box, criterion_group, criterion_main, Criterion};
+use deltachat::context::Context;
+use std::path::Path;
+
+async fn search_benchmark(path: impl AsRef<Path>) {
+    let dbfile = path.as_ref();
+    let id = 100;
+    let context = Context::new("FakeOS".into(), dbfile.into(), id)
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+
+    for _ in 0..10u32 {
+        context.search_msgs(None, "hello").await.unwrap();
+    }
+}
+
+fn criterion_benchmark(c: &mut Criterion) {
+    // To enable this benchmark, set `DELTACHAT_BENCHMARK_DATABASE` to some large database with many
+    // messages, such as your primary account.
+    if let Ok(path) = std::env::var("DELTACHAT_BENCHMARK_DATABASE") {
+        c.bench_function("search hello", |b| {
+            b.iter(|| block_on(async { search_benchmark(black_box(&path)).await }))
+        });
+    }
+}
+
+criterion_group!(benches, criterion_benchmark);
+criterion_main!(benches);