diff --git a/lib/message.cc b/lib/message.cc
index b7a64b1c..3ca7b902 100644
--- a/lib/message.cc
+++ b/lib/message.cc
@@ -604,7 +604,12 @@ _notmuch_message_get_in_reply_to (notmuch_message_t *message)
 const char *
 notmuch_message_get_thread_id (notmuch_message_t *message)
 {
-    _notmuch_message_ensure_metadata (message, message->thread_id);
+    try {
+	_notmuch_message_ensure_metadata (message, message->thread_id);
+    } catch (Xapian::Error &error) {
+	LOG_XAPIAN_EXCEPTION (message, error);
+	return NULL;
+    }
     if (! message->thread_id)
 	INTERNAL_ERROR ("Message with document ID of %u has no thread ID.\n",
 			message->doc_id);
diff --git a/test/T560-lib-error.sh b/test/T560-lib-error.sh
index b5600851..81500536 100755
--- a/test/T560-lib-error.sh
+++ b/test/T560-lib-error.sh
@@ -360,7 +360,6 @@ test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
 
 backup_database
 test_begin_subtest "Handle getting thread-id from closed database"
-test_subtest_known_broken
 cat c_head2 - c_tail <<'EOF' | test_C ${MAIL_DIR}
     {
         const char *id2;