lib/PublicInbox/Search.pm | 6 ++++--

diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/Search.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/Search.pm
index d4f6f77a548f79acedfaf0b0de2a5b640dcaf017..b59430d8e9d7748c0ad49130d22acdeeebfafaca 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/Search.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/Search.pm
@@ -289,8 +289,10 @@ }
 
 sub lookup_mail { # no ghosts!
 	my ($self, $mid) = @_;
-	my $smsg = lookup_message($self, $mid) or return;
-	PublicInbox::SearchMsg->load_doc($smsg->{doc});
+	retry_reopen($self, sub {
+		my $smsg = lookup_message($self, $mid) or return;
+		PublicInbox::SearchMsg->load_doc($smsg->{doc});
+	});
 }
 
 sub find_unique_doc_id {