diff --git a/notmuch-dump.c b/notmuch-dump.c
index eb629dc9..d7017929 100644
--- a/notmuch-dump.c
+++ b/notmuch-dump.c
@@ -361,16 +361,11 @@ notmuch_database_dump (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
 }
 
 int
-notmuch_dump_command (notmuch_config_t *config, unused(notmuch_database_t *notmuch), int argc, char *argv[])
+notmuch_dump_command (unused(notmuch_config_t *config), notmuch_database_t *notmuch , int argc, char *argv[])
 {
-    notmuch_database_t *notmuch;
     const char *query_str = NULL;
     int ret;
 
-    if (notmuch_database_open (notmuch_config_get_database_path (config),
-			       NOTMUCH_DATABASE_MODE_READ_WRITE, &notmuch))
-	return EXIT_FAILURE;
-
     notmuch_exit_if_unmatched_db_uuid (notmuch);
 
     const char *output_file_name = NULL;
diff --git a/notmuch.c b/notmuch.c
index 40527893..b10cc702 100644
--- a/notmuch.c
+++ b/notmuch.c
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ static command_t commands[] = {
       "Construct a reply template for a set of messages." },
     { "tag", notmuch_tag_command, NOTMUCH_COMMAND_CONFIG_OPEN,
       "Add/remove tags for all messages matching the search terms." },
-    { "dump", notmuch_dump_command, NOTMUCH_COMMAND_CONFIG_OPEN,
+    { "dump", notmuch_dump_command, NOTMUCH_COMMAND_DATABASE_EARLY | NOTMUCH_COMMAND_DATABASE_WRITE,
       "Create a plain-text dump of the tags for each message." },
     { "restore", notmuch_restore_command, NOTMUCH_COMMAND_CONFIG_OPEN,
       "Restore the tags from the given dump file (see 'dump')." },
diff --git a/test/T035-read-config.sh b/test/T035-read-config.sh
index 38d6c609..9e506dfa 100755
--- a/test/T035-read-config.sh
+++ b/test/T035-read-config.sh
@@ -71,5 +71,55 @@ EOF
 restore_config
 test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
 
+cat <<EOF > EXPECTED
+Before:
+#notmuch-dump batch-tag:3 tags
+
+After:
+#notmuch-dump batch-tag:3 tags
++attachment +inbox +signed +unread -- id:20091118005829.GB25380@dottiness.seas.harvard.edu
++attachment +inbox +signed +unread -- id:20091118010116.GC25380@dottiness.seas.harvard.edu
++inbox +signed +unread -- id:20091117190054.GU3165@dottiness.seas.harvard.edu
++inbox +signed +unread -- id:20091117203301.GV3165@dottiness.seas.harvard.edu
++inbox +signed +unread -- id:20091118002059.067214ed@hikari
++inbox +signed +unread -- id:20091118005040.GA25380@dottiness.seas.harvard.edu
++inbox +signed +unread -- id:87iqd9rn3l.fsf@vertex.dottedmag
+EOF
+
+test_begin_subtest "dump with saved query from config file"
+backup_config
+query_name="test${RANDOM}"
+CONFIG_PATH=notmuch-config
+printf "Before:\n" > OUTPUT
+notmuch dump --include=tags query:$query_name | sort >> OUTPUT
+printf "\nAfter:\n" >> OUTPUT
+printf "\n[query]\n${query_name} = tag:signed\n" >> ${CONFIG_PATH}
+notmuch dump --include=tags query:$query_name | sort >> OUTPUT
+restore_config
+test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
+
+test_begin_subtest "dump with saved query from config file (xdg)"
+backup_config
+query_name="test${RANDOM}"
+xdg_config
+printf "Before:\n" > OUTPUT
+notmuch dump --include=tags query:$query_name | sort >> OUTPUT
+printf "\nAfter:\n" >> OUTPUT
+printf "\n[query]\n${query_name} = tag:signed\n" >> ${CONFIG_PATH}
+notmuch dump --include=tags query:$query_name | sort >> OUTPUT
+restore_config
+test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
+
+test_begin_subtest "dump with saved query from config file (xdg+profile)"
+backup_config
+query_name="test${RANDOM}"
+xdg_config work
+printf "Before:\n" > OUTPUT
+notmuch dump --include=tags query:$query_name | sort >> OUTPUT
+printf "\nAfter:\n" >> OUTPUT
+printf "\n[query]\n${query_name} = tag:signed\n" >> ${CONFIG_PATH}
+notmuch dump --include=tags query:$query_name | sort >> OUTPUT
+restore_config
+test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
 
 test_done
diff --git a/test/T240-dump-restore.sh b/test/T240-dump-restore.sh
index 0870ff92..da7502c9 100755
--- a/test/T240-dump-restore.sh
+++ b/test/T240-dump-restore.sh
@@ -322,6 +322,7 @@ EOF
 
 test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
 
+backup_database
 test_begin_subtest 'roundtripping random message-ids and tags'
 
     ${TEST_DIRECTORY}/random-corpus --config-path=${NOTMUCH_CONFIG} \
@@ -338,7 +339,7 @@ test_begin_subtest 'roundtripping random message-ids and tags'
 	 sort > OUTPUT.$test_count
 
 test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED.$test_count OUTPUT.$test_count
+restore_database
 
 test_done
 
-# Note the database is "poisoned" for sup format at this point.