diff --git a/copyparty/u2idx.py b/copyparty/u2idx.py
index a0b71d17..5eb13adc 100644
--- a/copyparty/u2idx.py
+++ b/copyparty/u2idx.py
@@ -53,12 +53,17 @@ class U2idx(object):
             self.log("your python does not have sqlite3; searching will be disabled")
             return
 
+        if self.args.srch_icase:
+            self._open_db = self._open_db_icase
+        else:
+            self._open_db = self._open_db_std
+
         assert sqlite3  # type: ignore  # !rm
 
         self.active_id = ""
         self.active_cur: Optional["sqlite3.Cursor"] = None
         self.cur: dict[str, "sqlite3.Cursor"] = {}
-        self.mem_cur = self._connect_db(":memory:", check_same_thread=False).cursor()
+        self.mem_cur = sqlite3.connect(":memory:", check_same_thread=False).cursor()
         self.mem_cur.execute(r"create table a (b text)")
 
         self.sh_cur: Optional["sqlite3.Cursor"] = None
@@ -69,12 +74,13 @@ class U2idx(object):
     def log(self, msg: str, c: Union[int, str] = 0) -> None:
         self.log_func("u2idx", msg, c)
 
-    def _connect_db(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        """Wrapper for sqlite3.connect() that allows us to perform additional setup and extension of the database"""
-        assert sqlite3 # type: ignore # !rm
-        db = sqlite3.connect(*args, **kwargs)
+    def _open_db_std(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        assert sqlite3  # type: ignore  # !rm
+        kwargs["check_same_thread"] = False
+        return sqlite3.connect(*args, **kwargs)
 
-        # leverage python's casefold() string method for search terms
+    def _open_db_icase(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        db = self._open_db_std(*args, **kwargs)
         db.create_function("casefold", 1, lambda x: x.casefold() if x else x)
         return db
 
@@ -126,7 +132,7 @@ class U2idx(object):
 
         assert sqlite3  # type: ignore  # !rm
 
-        db = self._connect_db(self.args.shr_db, timeout=2, check_same_thread=False)
+        db = sqlite3.connect(self.args.shr_db, timeout=2, check_same_thread=False)
         cur = db.cursor()
         cur.execute('pragma table_info("sh")').fetchall()
         self.sh_cur = cur
@@ -157,8 +163,7 @@ class U2idx(object):
             uri = ""
             try:
                 uri = "{}?mode=ro&nolock=1".format(Path(db_path).as_uri())
-                db = self._connect_db(uri, timeout=2, uri=True, check_same_thread=False)
-                cur = db.cursor()
+                cur = self._open_db(uri, timeout=2, uri=True).cursor()
                 cur.execute('pragma table_info("up")').fetchone()
                 self.log("ro: %r" % (db_path,))
             except:
@@ -169,7 +174,7 @@ class U2idx(object):
         if not cur:
             # on windows, this steals the write-lock from up2k.deferred_init --
             # seen on win 10.0.17763.2686, py 3.10.4, sqlite 3.37.2
-            cur = self._connect_db(db_path, timeout=2, check_same_thread=False).cursor()
+            cur = self._open_db(db_path, timeout=2).cursor()
             self.log("opened %r" % (db_path,))
 
         self.cur[ptop] = cur
@@ -182,6 +187,8 @@ class U2idx(object):
         if not HAVE_SQLITE3:
             return [], [], False
 
+        icase = self.args.srch_icase
+
         q = ""
         v: Union[str, int] = ""
         va: list[Union[str, int]] = []
@@ -241,9 +248,13 @@ class U2idx(object):
                 elif v == "path":
                     v = "trim(?||up.rd,'/')"
                     va.append("\nrd")
+                    if icase:
+                        v = "casefold(%s)" % (v,)
 
                 elif v == "name":
-                    v = "casefold(up.fn)"
+                    v = "up.fn"
+                    if icase:
+                        v = "casefold(%s)" % (v,)
 
                 elif v == "tags" or ptn_mt.match(v):
                     have_mt = True
@@ -294,9 +305,11 @@ class U2idx(object):
                     tail = "||'%'"
                     v = v[:-1]
 
-            if "casefold(up.fn)" in q:
-                # casefold the search term as well
-                v = unicode(v).casefold()
+            if icase and "casefold(" in q:
+                try:
+                    v = unicode(v).casefold()
+                except:
+                    v = unicode(v).lower()
 
             q += " {}?{} ".format(head, tail)
             va.append(v)
@@ -313,14 +326,14 @@ class U2idx(object):
                 continue
 
             va.pop()
-            va.append(zs.casefold())
+            va.append(zs.lower())
             q = q[: m.start()]
 
             field, oper = m.groups()
             if oper in ["=", "=="]:
                 q += " {} like ? ) ".format(field)
             else:
-                q += " casefold({}) {} ? ) ".format(field, oper)
+                q += " lower({}) {} ? ) ".format(field, oper)
 
         try:
             return self.run_query(uname, vols, q, va, have_mt, True, lim)