diff --git a/src-core/src/db/yomitan.rs b/src-core/src/db/yomitan.rs
index d1a69a7..3498622 100644
--- a/src-core/src/db/yomitan.rs
+++ b/src-core/src/db/yomitan.rs
@@ -54,8 +54,11 @@ impl YomitanDatabase {
         }
 
         new_t.push_str(&normalize_term(&new_seg));
-
         let q_term_norm = new_t;
+
+        let eq1 = if q_term_norm.len() > 0 { "GLOB" } else { "=" };
+        let eq2 = if q_reading.len() > 0 { "GLOB" } else { "=" };
+
         let conn = self.db.conn.lock().unwrap();
 
         conn.execute_batch(
@@ -74,11 +77,10 @@ impl YomitanDatabase {
             DELETE FROM yomitan_lookup_keys;
         ",
         )?;
-        // let _timer = Timer::new(format!("search_yomitan: {} {}", q_term, q_reading));
 
-        conn.execute(
-            &format!(
-                "
+        // let _timer = Timer::new(format!("search_yomitan: {} {}", q_term, q_reading));
+        let sql_string = format!(
+            "
             INSERT INTO yomitan_lookup_keys
             SELECT
                 t.term,
@@ -93,33 +95,33 @@ impl YomitanDatabase {
             FROM yomitan.terms                t
             JOIN yomitan.view_terms_term_rank tr ON tr.term = t.term AND tr.reading = t.reading
             JOIN yomitan.dictionaries         d  ON d.id  = t.dict_id
-            WHERE t.term_norm GLOB ?1 {} t.reading GLOB ?2
+            WHERE t.term_norm {eq1} ?1 {and_or} t.reading {eq2} ?2
             ORDER BY tr.max_score DESC, d.sort_order DESC
             LIMIT ?3 OFFSET ?4
-        ",
-                and_or
-            ),
-            params![q_term_norm, q_reading, limit, offset],
-        )?;
-        // let _timer = Timer::new(format!("search_yomitan: {} {}", q_term, q_reading));
+        "
+        );
+        // println!("{}", sql_string);
+        // still the most time bottleneck step, several seconds
+        conn.execute(&sql_string, params![q_term_norm, q_reading, limit, offset])?;
 
+        // let _timer = Timer::new(format!("search_yomitan: {} {}", q_term, q_reading));
         let mut stmt = conn.prepare(
             "
-        SELECT
-            t.term,
-            t.reading,
-            COALESCE(dt.tags,  '')  AS def_tags,
-            COALESCE(r.rules,  '')  AS rules,
-            t.score,
-            g.content               AS glossary_json,
-            t.sequence,
-            COALESCE(tt.tags,  '')  AS term_tags,
-            t.title                 AS dict_title
-        FROM yomitan_lookup_keys t
-        JOIN yomitan.glossaries         g  ON g.id  = t.glossary_id
-        LEFT JOIN yomitan.def_tag_sets  dt ON dt.id = t.def_tags_id
-        LEFT JOIN yomitan.rule_sets     r  ON r.id  = t.rules_id
-        LEFT JOIN yomitan.term_tag_sets tt ON tt.id = t.term_tags_id
+            SELECT
+                t.term,
+                t.reading,
+                COALESCE(dt.tags,  '')  AS def_tags,
+                COALESCE(r.rules,  '')  AS rules,
+                t.score,
+                g.content               AS glossary_json,
+                t.sequence,
+                COALESCE(tt.tags,  '')  AS term_tags,
+                t.title                 AS dict_title
+            FROM yomitan_lookup_keys t
+            JOIN yomitan.glossaries         g  ON g.id  = t.glossary_id
+            LEFT JOIN yomitan.def_tag_sets  dt ON dt.id = t.def_tags_id
+            LEFT JOIN yomitan.rule_sets     r  ON r.id  = t.rules_id
+            LEFT JOIN yomitan.term_tag_sets tt ON tt.id = t.term_tags_id
         ",
         )?;
         let rows = stmt.query_map(params![], |r| {