diff --git a/lib/data/repositories/email_repository_impl.dart b/lib/data/repositories/email_repository_impl.dart
index 3bcdc01..911c1a9 100644
--- a/lib/data/repositories/email_repository_impl.dart
+++ b/lib/data/repositories/email_repository_impl.dart
@@ -3101,6 +3101,8 @@ class EmailRepositoryImpl implements EmailRepository {
   }
 
   @override
+  // Results are limited to emails already synced into the local SQLite FTS5
+  // index; call syncEmails first to ensure the index is up-to-date.
   Future<List<model.Email>> searchEmails(
     String accountId,
     String mailboxPath,
diff --git a/test/backend/email_repository_imap_test.dart b/test/backend/email_repository_imap_test.dart
index 50e009e..6d20993 100644
--- a/test/backend/email_repository_imap_test.dart
+++ b/test/backend/email_repository_imap_test.dart
@@ -433,6 +433,7 @@ void main() {
 
     final r = makeRepo();
     await r.accounts.addAccount(account, userPass);
+    await r.emails.syncEmails('test', 'INBOX');
 
     final results = await r.emails.searchEmails(
       'test',