diff --git a/internal/postgres/schema.go b/internal/postgres/schema.go
index 414851fe..12797245 100644
--- a/internal/postgres/schema.go
+++ b/internal/postgres/schema.go
@@ -690,13 +690,29 @@ func createContentSearchIndexesPG(ctx context.Context, db *sql.DB) {
 		log.Printf("pg schema: invalid pg_trgm schema %q: %v", extSchema, err)
 		return
 	}
+	// fastupdate=off keeps the index bounded: the default fastupdate=on
+	// buffers inserts into a pending list that only VACUUM merges, which grows
+	// unbounded when continuous ingest starves autovacuum.
 	if _, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, fmt.Sprintf(
 		`CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_messages_content_trgm
-		 ON messages USING gin (content %s.gin_trgm_ops)`, quotedExt,
+		 ON messages USING gin (content %s.gin_trgm_ops)
+		 WITH (fastupdate = off)`, quotedExt,
 	)); err != nil {
 		log.Printf(
 			"pg schema: creating messages.content trigram index failed: %v", err,
 		)
+		return
+	}
+	// CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS only applies WITH (fastupdate = off) on
+	// first creation. Re-apply on every boot so stores upgraded from a
+	// prior schema (which left fastupdate=on) also get the bounded index.
+	if _, err := db.ExecContext(ctx,
+		`ALTER INDEX idx_messages_content_trgm SET (fastupdate = off)`,
+	); err != nil {
+		log.Printf(
+			"pg schema: disabling fastupdate on messages.content trigram index failed: %v",
+			err,
+		)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/postgres/search_content_pgtest_test.go b/internal/postgres/search_content_pgtest_test.go
index bb0397c7..df278f48 100644
--- a/internal/postgres/search_content_pgtest_test.go
+++ b/internal/postgres/search_content_pgtest_test.go
@@ -481,6 +481,24 @@ func TestPGContentSearchTrigramIndex(t *testing.T) {
 	).Scan(&hasIdx), "query pg_indexes")
 	assert.True(t, hasIdx,
 		"idx_messages_content_trgm missing after EnsureSchema")
+
+	// fastupdate=off must be set so the pending list cannot grow
+	// unbounded under continuous ingest. The schema bootstrap applies
+	// this on every boot (including stores upgraded from an earlier
+	// schema that created the index with the default fastupdate=on).
+	var fastupdateOff bool
+	require.NoError(t, store.DB().QueryRowContext(ctx,
+		`SELECT EXISTS (
+			SELECT 1
+			  FROM pg_class c
+			  JOIN pg_namespace n ON n.oid = c.relnamespace
+			 WHERE n.nspname = $1
+			   AND c.relname = 'idx_messages_content_trgm'
+			   AND 'fastupdate=off' = ANY(c.reloptions)
+		)`, contentSearchSchema,
+	).Scan(&fastupdateOff), "query pg_class.reloptions")
+	assert.True(t, fastupdateOff,
+		"idx_messages_content_trgm must have fastupdate=off")
 }
 
 // TestPGSearchContentRegex verifies regex mode.