diff --git a/backend/database/search.go b/backend/database/search.go
index 2b2193f..a0fba59 100644
--- a/backend/database/search.go
+++ b/backend/database/search.go
@@ -117,24 +117,41 @@ func (d *DB) InsertSearchIndex(
 	return err
 }
 
-// DeleteSearchIndex removes a row from the FTS5 search_index.
-func (d *DB) DeleteSearchIndex(rowid int64) error {
-	// SAFETY: FTS5 virtual table DELETE unsupported by sqlc. Rowid is parameterized.
-	_, err := d.db.ExecContext(d.Ctx, `
-		DELETE FROM search_index WHERE rowid = ?
-	`, rowid)
-
-	return err
+// DeleteSearchIndex is a no-op for contentless FTS5 tables.
+// Contentless FTS5 (content=”) does not support DELETE.
+// Stale entries are harmless: they point to rowids that no longer
+// match in track_metadata, so JOINs in search queries filter them
+// out.  The index is fully rebuilt during FullRescan.
+func (d *DB) DeleteSearchIndex(_ int64) error {
+	return nil
 }
 
 // ClearSearchIndex removes all rows from the FTS5 search_index.
+// The search_index is a contentless FTS5 table (content=”), which
+// does not support DELETE.  We drop and recreate it instead.
 func (d *DB) ClearSearchIndex() error {
-	// SAFETY: FTS5 virtual table DELETE unsupported by sqlc. No parameters; unconditional delete.
-	_, err := d.db.ExecContext(d.Ctx, `
-		DELETE FROM search_index
-	`)
+	// SAFETY: FTS5 contentless table cannot be DELETEd from.
+	// Drop + recreate is the only way to clear it.  No parameters.
+	if _, err := d.db.ExecContext(d.Ctx,
+		`DROP TABLE IF EXISTS search_index`,
+	); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not drop search_index: %w", err)
+	}
 
-	return err
+	if _, err := d.db.ExecContext(d.Ctx, `
+		CREATE VIRTUAL TABLE IF NOT EXISTS search_index USING fts5(
+			file_path,
+			title,
+			artist,
+			album,
+			content='',
+			tokenize='unicode61 remove_diacritics 2'
+		)
+	`); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("could not recreate search_index: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
 }
 
 // RebuildSearchIndex repopulates the FTS5 search_index from
diff --git a/backend/database/search_test.go b/backend/database/search_test.go
index 6808045..3c64209 100644
--- a/backend/database/search_test.go
+++ b/backend/database/search_test.go
@@ -742,14 +742,21 @@ func TestClearSearchIndex(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("SearchFTS before clear: got 0 results")
 	}
 
-	// ClearSearchIndex uses DELETE on a contentless FTS5 table
-	// (content=''), which SQLite does not support. This documents
-	// the limitation — the error is expected. RebuildSearchIndex
-	// only succeeds when the index is empty (e.g., after drop+recreate
-	// or on a fresh database before any inserts).
+	// ClearSearchIndex drops and recreates the contentless FTS5
+	// table, which is the only way to clear a content='' table.
 	err = db.ClearSearchIndex()
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Log("ClearSearchIndex succeeded (unexpected for contentless FTS5 with data)")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ClearSearchIndex: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Verify the index is empty after clear.
+	results, err = db.SearchFTS("queen", 10)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("SearchFTS after clear: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if len(results) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("SearchFTS after clear: got %d results, want 0", len(results))
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/backend/library/library.go b/backend/library/library.go
index 63bb7bf..6d528d6 100644
--- a/backend/library/library.go
+++ b/backend/library/library.go
@@ -860,7 +860,12 @@ func (l *Library) updateAudioFileMetadata(
 		)
 	}
 
-	// Index in FTS5 search_index (delete old entry, insert new).
+	// Re-index in FTS5 search_index.
+	// Contentless FTS5 (content='') does not support DELETE, so we
+	// cannot remove the old entry.  Inserting a new row with the
+	// same rowid is accepted by FTS5 — the old entry becomes stale
+	// but harmless (search JOINs against track_metadata filter it).
+	// The index is fully rebuilt during FullRescan.
 	tags := result.tags
 	if tags == nil {
 		tags = &metadata.TrackMetadata{}
@@ -875,21 +880,6 @@ func (l *Library) updateAudioFileMetadata(
 
 	album := tags.Album
 
-	// SAFETY: FTS5 virtual table, see search.go:DeleteSearchIndex. Rowid parameterized.
-	if _, err := tx.ExecContext(
-		l.ctx,
-		`DELETE FROM search_index WHERE rowid = ?`,
-		result.existingFileID,
-	); err != nil {
-		l.logger.Warn(
-			"could not remove old FTS entry",
-			"id", result.existingFileID,
-			"err", err,
-		)
-
-		metrics.addWarning(result.absolutePath, "commit", err)
-	}
-
 	// SAFETY: FTS5 virtual table, see search.go:InsertSearchIndex. All values parameterized.
 	if _, err := tx.ExecContext(
 		l.ctx,
diff --git a/backend/library/rescan.go b/backend/library/rescan.go
index 04594d5..2e40948 100644
--- a/backend/library/rescan.go
+++ b/backend/library/rescan.go
@@ -160,22 +160,21 @@ func (l *Library) clearLibraryTables() error {
 		)
 	}
 
-	// Clear FTS5 search index.
-	// SAFETY: FTS5 virtual table, see search.go:ClearSearchIndex. No parameters; unconditional delete.
-	if _, err := tx.ExecContext(
-		l.ctx, `DELETE FROM search_index`,
-	); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf(
-			"could not clear search index: %w", err,
-		)
-	}
-
 	if err := tx.Commit(); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf(
 			"could not commit library clear transaction: %w", err,
 		)
 	}
 
+	// Clear FTS5 search index AFTER the transaction.
+	// ClearSearchIndex drops and recreates the contentless FTS5
+	// virtual table, which cannot run inside a transaction.
+	if err := l.db.ClearSearchIndex(); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf(
+			"could not clear search index: %w", err,
+		)
+	}
+
 	l.logger.Info("all library tables cleared")
 
 	return nil