diff --git a/emacs/notmuch-hello.el b/emacs/notmuch-hello.el
index 4972a455..a9c8c534 100644
--- a/emacs/notmuch-hello.el
+++ b/emacs/notmuch-hello.el
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ return that."
     ;; Add the new one.
     (customize-save-variable 'notmuch-saved-searches
 			     (add-to-list 'notmuch-saved-searches
-					  (cons name search) t))
+					  (list :name name :query search) t))
     (message "Saved '%s' as '%s'." search name)
     (notmuch-hello-update)))
 
diff --git a/emacs/notmuch-lib.el b/emacs/notmuch-lib.el
index 959764e3..a54a055e 100644
--- a/emacs/notmuch-lib.el
+++ b/emacs/notmuch-lib.el
@@ -107,10 +107,48 @@ Note that the recommended way of achieving the same is using
 (defvar notmuch-search-history nil
   "Variable to store notmuch searches history.")
 
-(defcustom notmuch-saved-searches '(("inbox" . "tag:inbox")
-				    ("unread" . "tag:unread"))
-  "A list of saved searches to display."
-  :type '(alist :key-type string :value-type string)
+(defun notmuch--saved-searches-to-plist (symbol)
+  "Extract a saved-search variable into plist form.
+
+The new style saved search is just a plist, but for backwards
+compatatibility we use this function to extract old style saved
+searches so they still work in customize."
+  (let ((saved-searches (default-value symbol)))
+    (mapcar #'notmuch-hello-saved-search-to-plist saved-searches)))
+
+(define-widget 'notmuch-saved-search-plist 'list
+  "A single saved search property list."
+  :tag "Saved Search"
+  :args '((list :inline t
+		:format "%v"
+		(group :format "%v" :inline t (const :format "   Name: " :name) (string :format "%v"))
+		(group :format "%v" :inline t (const :format "  Query: " :query) (string :format "%v")))
+	  (checklist :inline t
+		     :format "%v"
+		     (group :format "%v" :inline t (const :format "Count-Query: " :count-query) (string :format "%v")))))
+
+(defcustom notmuch-saved-searches '((:name "inbox" :query "tag:inbox")
+				    (:name "unread" :query "tag:unread"))
+  "A list of saved searches to display.
+
+The saved search can be given in 3 forms. The preferred way is as
+a plist. Supported properties are
+
+  :name            Name of the search (required).
+  :query           Search to run (required).
+  :count-query     Optional extra query to generate the count
+                   shown. If not present then the :query property
+                   is used.
+
+Other accepted forms are a cons cell of the form (NAME . QUERY)
+or a list of the form (NAME QUERY COUNT-QUERY)."
+;; The saved-search format is also used by the all-tags notmuch-hello
+;; section. This section generates its own saved-search list in one of
+;; the latter two forms.
+
+  :get 'notmuch--saved-searches-to-plist
+  :type '(repeat notmuch-saved-search-plist)
+  :tag "List of Saved Searches"
   :group 'notmuch-hello)
 
 (defcustom notmuch-archive-tags '("-inbox")