diff --git a/lib/notmuch-private.h b/lib/notmuch-private.h
index 5dd4770e..d95bf310 100644
--- a/lib/notmuch-private.h
+++ b/lib/notmuch-private.h
@@ -477,6 +477,17 @@ void
 _notmuch_doc_id_set_remove (notmuch_doc_id_set_t *doc_ids,
                             unsigned int doc_id);
 
+/* querying xapian documents by type (e.g. "mail" or "ghost"): */
+notmuch_status_t
+_notmuch_query_search_documents (notmuch_query_t *query,
+				 const char *type,
+				 notmuch_messages_t **out);
+
+notmuch_status_t
+_notmuch_query_count_documents (notmuch_query_t *query,
+				const char *type,
+				unsigned *count_out);
+
 /* message.cc */
 
 void
diff --git a/lib/query.cc b/lib/query.cc
index e627bfc2..77a7926b 100644
--- a/lib/query.cc
+++ b/lib/query.cc
@@ -186,6 +186,14 @@ notmuch_query_search_messages (notmuch_query_t *query)
 notmuch_status_t
 notmuch_query_search_messages_st (notmuch_query_t *query,
 				  notmuch_messages_t **out)
+{
+    return _notmuch_query_search_documents (query, "mail", out);
+}
+
+notmuch_status_t
+_notmuch_query_search_documents (notmuch_query_t *query,
+				 const char *type,
+				 notmuch_messages_t **out)
 {
     notmuch_database_t *notmuch = query->notmuch;
     const char *query_string = query->query_string;
@@ -208,7 +216,7 @@ notmuch_query_search_messages_st (notmuch_query_t *query,
 	Xapian::Enquire enquire (*notmuch->xapian_db);
 	Xapian::Query mail_query (talloc_asprintf (query, "%s%s",
 						   _find_prefix ("type"),
-						   "mail"));
+						   type));
 	Xapian::Query string_query, final_query, exclude_query;
 	Xapian::MSet mset;
 	Xapian::MSetIterator iterator;
@@ -553,6 +561,12 @@ notmuch_query_count_messages (notmuch_query_t *query)
 
 notmuch_status_t
 notmuch_query_count_messages_st (notmuch_query_t *query, unsigned *count_out)
+{
+    return _notmuch_query_count_documents (query, "mail", count_out);
+}
+
+notmuch_status_t
+_notmuch_query_count_documents (notmuch_query_t *query, const char *type, unsigned *count_out)
 {
     notmuch_database_t *notmuch = query->notmuch;
     const char *query_string = query->query_string;
@@ -562,7 +576,7 @@ notmuch_query_count_messages_st (notmuch_query_t *query, unsigned *count_out)
 	Xapian::Enquire enquire (*notmuch->xapian_db);
 	Xapian::Query mail_query (talloc_asprintf (query, "%s%s",
 						   _find_prefix ("type"),
-						   "mail"));
+						   type));
 	Xapian::Query string_query, final_query, exclude_query;
 	Xapian::MSet mset;
 	unsigned int flags = (Xapian::QueryParser::FLAG_BOOLEAN |