lib/PublicInbox/Search.pm     | 1 +
 lib/PublicInbox/V2Writable.pm | 3 +--

diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/Search.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/Search.pm
index 7cad31a711d5fa300ec16a030ad22288cfdb79cf..7e7c989d77faa8259089e4b0c2812a07a0116209 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/Search.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/Search.pm
@@ -173,6 +173,7 @@ 	$self->{xdb}->reopen;
 	if (my $skel = $self->{skel}) {
 		$skel->reopen;
 	}
+	$self; # make chaining easier
 }
 
 # read-only
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/V2Writable.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/V2Writable.pm
index b6c46a21a704b7a1a961eaa3007ad3c5acf723c4..e673c2522db79c31104d03c389130c5fa7b321db 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/V2Writable.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/V2Writable.pm
@@ -378,8 +378,7 @@ sub lookup_content {
 	my ($self, $mime, $mid) = @_;
 	my $ibx = $self->{-inbox};
 
-	my $srch = $ibx->search;
-	$srch->reopen;
+	my $srch = $ibx->search->reopen;
 	my $cid = content_id($mime);
 	my $found;
 	$srch->each_smsg_by_mid($mid, sub {