diff --git a/hermes_state_schema.py b/hermes_state_schema.py
index 5b860b514e..684facc904 100644
--- a/hermes_state_schema.py
+++ b/hermes_state_schema.py
@@ -838,29 +838,10 @@ class SessionSchemaMixin:
     def _run_data_migrations(self, cursor: sqlite3.Cursor, current_version: int, fts5_available: bool) -> None:
         """Version-gated chain for DATA migrations only (row backfills, version-specific
         index changes); column additions never belong here. Advances schema_version at
-        the end unless FTS work could not complete."""
+        the end unless FTS5 is unavailable."""
         # Renew the lease: the chain can rewrite whole tables on large DBs.
         report_startup_progress(600.0, phase="state_db_data_migrations")
-        fts_migrations_complete = True
-        if current_version < 10 and SCHEMA_VERSION == 10:
-            # v10: one-time trigram backfill. Only when v10 itself is the target: v11+
-            # drops and rebuilds both FTS tables, so the backfill would only burn startup
-            # time and WAL space.
-            if fts5_available:
-                _fts_trigram_exists = self._fts_table_probe(cursor, "messages_fts_trigram")
-                if _fts_trigram_exists is False:
-                    if self._ensure_fts_schema(cursor, "messages_fts_trigram", FTS_TRIGRAM_SQL):
-                        cursor.execute(
-                            "INSERT INTO messages_fts_trigram(rowid, content) "
-                            "SELECT id, content FROM messages WHERE content IS NOT NULL"
-                        )
-                    else:
-                        fts_migrations_complete = False
-                elif _fts_trigram_exists is None:
-                    fts_migrations_complete = False
-            else:
-                fts_migrations_complete = False
-        # (v11 inline FTS re-index was superseded by v23 and removed.)
+        # (v10 trigram backfill and v11 inline FTS re-index were superseded by v23 and removed.)
         if current_version < 16:
             # v16: tag delegate subagent rows so pickers stay clean after parent deletes
             # orphan them. The shared predicate excludes user-visible reset children.
@@ -936,7 +917,7 @@ class SessionSchemaMixin:
         # Advance schema_version — deliberately NOT gated on the FTS opt-in (that would
         # block every future migration for a user who never optimizes). FTS5 unavailable
         # is the one skip: claiming current would lie.
-        if current_version < SCHEMA_VERSION and fts_migrations_complete and fts5_available:
+        if current_version < SCHEMA_VERSION and fts5_available:
             cursor.execute("UPDATE schema_version SET version = ?", (SCHEMA_VERSION,))
 
     def _migrate_v22_session_model_usage(self, cursor: sqlite3.Cursor) -> None:
diff --git a/hermes_state_search.py b/hermes_state_search.py
index b1cc26b2ec..8c33c867a6 100644
--- a/hermes_state_search.py
+++ b/hermes_state_search.py
@@ -132,6 +132,20 @@ def _positive_int(name: str, value: Any) -> None:
         raise ValueError(f"{name} must be greater than zero")
 
 
+def _search_select_sql(snippet_sql: str, from_sql: str, where: List[str], order_by: str, limit_sql: str) -> str:
+    """Result-row SELECT shared by the FTS and LIKE routes (SQL text is pinned)."""
+    return f"""
+            SELECT m.id, m.session_id, m.role,
+                   {snippet_sql},
+                   {_SEARCH_SELECT_TAIL}
+            FROM {from_sql}
+            JOIN sessions s ON s.id = m.session_id
+            WHERE {' AND '.join(where)}
+            {order_by}
+            {limit_sql}
+        """
+
+
 def _search_filter_clauses(
     where: List[str], params: list, *, include_inactive: bool, source_filter: Optional[List[str]],
     exclude_sources: Optional[List[str]], role_filter: Optional[List[str]],
@@ -918,17 +932,10 @@ class SessionSearchMixin:
             exclude_sources=exclude_sources, role_filter=role_filter,
         )
         params.extend([limit, offset])
-        sql = f"""
-            SELECT m.id, m.session_id, m.role,
-                   snippet({table}, -1, '>>>', '<<<', '...', 40) AS snippet,
-                   {_SEARCH_SELECT_TAIL}
-            FROM {table}
-            JOIN messages m ON m.id = {table}.rowid
-            JOIN sessions s ON s.id = m.session_id
-            WHERE {' AND '.join(where)}
-            {order_by_sql}
-            LIMIT ? OFFSET ?
-        """
+        sql = _search_select_sql(
+            f"snippet({table}, -1, '>>>', '<<<', '...', 40) AS snippet",
+            f"{table}\n            JOIN messages m ON m.id = {table}.rowid", where, order_by_sql, "LIMIT ? OFFSET ?",
+        )
         return sql, params
 
     def _match_rows(
@@ -959,16 +966,7 @@ class SessionSearchMixin:
 
     def _like_rows(self, where: List[str], params: list, *, order_by: str, limit_sql: str) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
         """Canonical-table LIKE scan; ``params[0]`` is the snippet anchor term."""
-        sql = f"""
-            SELECT m.id, m.session_id, m.role,
-                   {_LIKE_SNIPPET_SQL},
-                   {_SEARCH_SELECT_TAIL}
-            FROM messages m
-            JOIN sessions s ON s.id = m.session_id
-            WHERE {' AND '.join(where)}
-            {order_by}
-            {limit_sql}
-        """
+        sql = _search_select_sql(_LIKE_SNIPPET_SQL, "messages m", where, order_by, limit_sql)
         return [dict(row) for row in self._read_all(sql, params)]
 
     @staticmethod