diff --git a/lib/database.cc b/lib/database.cc
index 53397bb0..51161889 100644
--- a/lib/database.cc
+++ b/lib/database.cc
@@ -316,6 +316,8 @@ notmuch_status_to_string (notmuch_status_t status)
 	return "Unbalanced number of calls to notmuch_database_begin_atomic/end_atomic";
     case NOTMUCH_STATUS_UNSUPPORTED_OPERATION:
 	return "Unsupported operation";
+    case NOTMUCH_STATUS_UPGRADE_REQUIRED:
+	return "Operation requires a database upgrade";
     default:
     case NOTMUCH_STATUS_LAST_STATUS:
 	return "Unknown error status value";
@@ -2226,6 +2228,9 @@ notmuch_database_find_message_by_filename (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
     if (message_ret == NULL)
 	return NOTMUCH_STATUS_NULL_POINTER;
 
+    if (! (notmuch->features & NOTMUCH_FEATURE_FILE_TERMS))
+	return NOTMUCH_STATUS_UPGRADE_REQUIRED;
+
     /* return NULL on any failure */
     *message_ret = NULL;
 
diff --git a/lib/directory.cc b/lib/directory.cc
index 6a3ffed7..8daaec8e 100644
--- a/lib/directory.cc
+++ b/lib/directory.cc
@@ -105,6 +105,11 @@ _notmuch_directory_create (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
     const char *db_path;
     notmuch_bool_t create = (flags & NOTMUCH_FIND_CREATE);
 
+    if (! (notmuch->features & NOTMUCH_FEATURE_DIRECTORY_DOCS)) {
+	*status_ret = NOTMUCH_STATUS_UPGRADE_REQUIRED;
+	return NULL;
+    }
+
     *status_ret = NOTMUCH_STATUS_SUCCESS;
 
     path = _notmuch_database_relative_path (notmuch, path);
diff --git a/lib/message.cc b/lib/message.cc
index ed8c59e9..68f7e68d 100644
--- a/lib/message.cc
+++ b/lib/message.cc
@@ -655,6 +655,10 @@ _notmuch_message_add_filename (notmuch_message_t *message,
     if (filename == NULL)
 	INTERNAL_ERROR ("Message filename cannot be NULL.");
 
+    if (! (message->notmuch->features & NOTMUCH_FEATURE_FILE_TERMS) ||
+	! (message->notmuch->features & NOTMUCH_FEATURE_BOOL_FOLDER))
+	return NOTMUCH_STATUS_UPGRADE_REQUIRED;
+
     relative = _notmuch_database_relative_path (message->notmuch, filename);
 
     status = _notmuch_database_split_path (local, relative, &directory, NULL);
@@ -699,6 +703,10 @@ _notmuch_message_remove_filename (notmuch_message_t *message,
     notmuch_private_status_t private_status;
     notmuch_status_t status;
 
+    if (! (message->notmuch->features & NOTMUCH_FEATURE_FILE_TERMS) ||
+	! (message->notmuch->features & NOTMUCH_FEATURE_BOOL_FOLDER))
+	return NOTMUCH_STATUS_UPGRADE_REQUIRED;
+
     status = _notmuch_database_filename_to_direntry (
 	local, message->notmuch, filename, NOTMUCH_FIND_LOOKUP, &direntry);
     if (status || !direntry)
diff --git a/lib/notmuch.h b/lib/notmuch.h
index 3c5ec988..cbf2ba5c 100644
--- a/lib/notmuch.h
+++ b/lib/notmuch.h
@@ -159,6 +159,10 @@ typedef enum _notmuch_status {
      * The operation is not supported.
      */
     NOTMUCH_STATUS_UNSUPPORTED_OPERATION,
+    /**
+     * The operation requires a database upgrade.
+     */
+    NOTMUCH_STATUS_UPGRADE_REQUIRED,
     /**
      * Not an actual status value. Just a way to find out how many
      * valid status values there are.
@@ -438,6 +442,9 @@ notmuch_database_end_atomic (notmuch_database_t *notmuch);
  *
  * NOTMUCH_STATUS_XAPIAN_EXCEPTION: A Xapian exception occurred;
  *	directory not retrieved.
+ *
+ * NOTMUCH_STATUS_UPGRADE_REQUIRED: The caller must upgrade the
+ * 	database to use this function.
  */
 notmuch_status_t
 notmuch_database_get_directory (notmuch_database_t *database,
@@ -490,6 +497,9 @@ notmuch_database_get_directory (notmuch_database_t *database,
  *
  * NOTMUCH_STATUS_READ_ONLY_DATABASE: Database was opened in read-only
  *	mode so no message can be added.
+ *
+ * NOTMUCH_STATUS_UPGRADE_REQUIRED: The caller must upgrade the
+ * 	database to use this function.
  */
 notmuch_status_t
 notmuch_database_add_message (notmuch_database_t *database,
@@ -520,6 +530,9 @@ notmuch_database_add_message (notmuch_database_t *database,
  *
  * NOTMUCH_STATUS_READ_ONLY_DATABASE: Database was opened in read-only
  *	mode so no message can be removed.
+ *
+ * NOTMUCH_STATUS_UPGRADE_REQUIRED: The caller must upgrade the
+ * 	database to use this function.
  */
 notmuch_status_t
 notmuch_database_remove_message (notmuch_database_t *database,
@@ -575,6 +588,9 @@ notmuch_database_find_message (notmuch_database_t *database,
  * NOTMUCH_STATUS_OUT_OF_MEMORY: Out of memory, creating the message object
  *
  * NOTMUCH_STATUS_XAPIAN_EXCEPTION: A Xapian exception occurred
+ *
+ * NOTMUCH_STATUS_UPGRADE_REQUIRED: The caller must upgrade the
+ * 	database to use this function.
  */
 notmuch_status_t
 notmuch_database_find_message_by_filename (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,