diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 49fa5b93..ae0a0270 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ WITH_EMACS=1
 WITH_BASH=1
 WITH_RUBY=1
 WITH_ZSH=1
+WITH_RETRY_LOCK=1
 
 usage ()
 {
@@ -140,6 +141,7 @@ Some features can be disabled (--with-feature=no is equivalent to
 	--without-emacs			Do not install lisp file
 	--without-ruby			Do not install ruby bindings
 	--without-zsh-completion	Do not install zsh completions files
+	--without-retry-lock		Do not use blocking xapian opens, even if available
 
 Additional options are accepted for compatibility with other
 configure-script calling conventions, but don't do anything yet:
@@ -211,6 +213,14 @@ for option; do
 	fi
     elif [ "${option}" = '--without-ruby' ] ; then
 	WITH_RUBY=0
+    elif [ "${option%%=*}" = '--with-retry-lock' ]; then
+	if [ "${option#*=}" = 'no' ]; then
+	    WITH_RETRY_LOCK=0
+	else
+	    WITH_RETRY_LOCK=1
+	fi
+    elif [ "${option}" = '--without-retry-lock' ] ; then
+	WITH_RETRY_LOCK=0
     elif [ "${option%%=*}" = '--with-zsh-completion' ]; then
 	if [ "${option#*=}" = 'no' ]; then
 	    WITH_ZSH=0
@@ -392,6 +402,24 @@ EOF
     rm -f _field_processor.o _field_processor.cc
 
     default_xapian_backend=""
+    # DB_RETRY_LOCK is only supported on Xapian > 1.3.2
+    have_xapian_db_retry_lock=0
+    if [ $WITH_RETRY_LOCK = "1" ]; then
+	printf "Checking for Xapian lock retry support... "
+	cat>_retry.cc<<EOF
+#include <xapian.h>
+int flag = Xapian::DB_RETRY_LOCK;
+EOF
+	if ${CXX} ${CXXFLAGS_for_sh} ${xapian_cxxflags} -c _retry.cc -o _retry.o > /dev/null 2>&1
+	then
+	    have_xapian_db_retry_lock=1
+	    printf "Yes.\n"
+	else
+	    printf "No. (optional)\n"
+	fi
+	rm -f _retry.o _retry.cc
+    fi
+
     printf "Testing default Xapian backend... "
     cat >_default_backend.cc <<EOF
 #include <xapian.h>
@@ -1022,6 +1050,9 @@ HAVE_XAPIAN_COMPACT = ${have_xapian_compact}
 # Whether the Xapian version in use supports field processors
 HAVE_XAPIAN_FIELD_PROCESSOR = ${have_xapian_field_processor}
 
+# Whether the Xapian version in use supports DB_RETRY_LOCK
+HAVE_XAPIAN_DB_RETRY_LOCK = ${have_xapian_db_retry_lock}
+
 # Whether the getpwuid_r function is standards-compliant
 # (if not, then notmuch will #define _POSIX_PTHREAD_SEMANTICS
 # to enable the standards-compliant version -- needed for Solaris)
@@ -1097,6 +1128,7 @@ COMMON_CONFIGURE_CFLAGS = \\
 	-DSTD_ASCTIME=\$(STD_ASCTIME)				\\
 	-DHAVE_XAPIAN_COMPACT=\$(HAVE_XAPIAN_COMPACT)		\\
 	-DHAVE_XAPIAN_FIELD_PROCESSOR=\$(HAVE_XAPIAN_FIELD_PROCESSOR) \\
+	-DHAVE_XAPIAN_DB_RETRY_LOCK=\$(HAVE_XAPIAN_DB_RETRY_LOCK) \\
 	-DUTIL_BYTE_ORDER=\$(UTIL_BYTE_ORDER)
 
 CONFIGURE_CFLAGS = \$(COMMON_CONFIGURE_CFLAGS)
@@ -1117,6 +1149,9 @@ NOTMUCH_HAVE_XAPIAN_COMPACT=${have_xapian_compact}
 # Whether the Xapian version in use supports field processors
 NOTMUCH_HAVE_XAPIAN_FIELD_PROCESSOR=${have_xapian_field_processor}
 
+# Whether the Xapian version in use supports lock retry
+NOTMUCH_HAVE_XAPIAN_DB_RETRY_LOCK=${have_xapian_db_retry_lock}
+
 # Which backend will Xapian use by default?
 NOTMUCH_DEFAULT_XAPIAN_BACKEND=${default_xapian_backend}
 
diff --git a/lib/database.cc b/lib/database.cc
index afafe88c..66ee267f 100644
--- a/lib/database.cc
+++ b/lib/database.cc
@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@ typedef struct {
 #define STRINGIFY(s) _SUB_STRINGIFY(s)
 #define _SUB_STRINGIFY(s) #s
 
+#if HAVE_XAPIAN_DB_RETRY_LOCK
+#define DB_ACTION (Xapian::DB_CREATE_OR_OPEN | Xapian::DB_RETRY_LOCK)
+#else
+#define DB_ACTION Xapian::DB_CREATE_OR_OPEN
+#endif
+
 /* Here's the current schema for our database (for NOTMUCH_DATABASE_VERSION):
  *
  * We currently have three different types of documents (mail, ghost,
@@ -939,7 +945,7 @@ notmuch_database_open_verbose (const char *path,
 
 	if (mode == NOTMUCH_DATABASE_MODE_READ_WRITE) {
 	    notmuch->xapian_db = new Xapian::WritableDatabase (xapian_path,
-							       Xapian::DB_CREATE_OR_OPEN);
+							       DB_ACTION);
 	} else {
 	    notmuch->xapian_db = new Xapian::Database (xapian_path);
 	}