diff --git a/lib/message/mu-document.hh b/lib/message/mu-document.hh
index ef045772..5119044c 100644
--- a/lib/message/mu-document.hh
+++ b/lib/message/mu-document.hh
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 #ifndef MU_DOCUMENT_HH__
 #define MU_DOCUMENT_HH__
 
-#include <xapian.h>
 #include <utility>
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
diff --git a/lib/message/mu-fields.hh b/lib/message/mu-fields.hh
index aa1ae0fb..19a222b9 100644
--- a/lib/message/mu-fields.hh
+++ b/lib/message/mu-fields.hh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
-** Copyright (C) 2022-2023 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
+** Copyright (C) 2022-2024 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
 **
 ** This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 ** under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 #include <string_view>
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <array>
-#include <xapian.h>
+#include <mu-xapian-db.hh>
 #include <utils/mu-utils.hh>
 #include <utils/mu-option.hh>
 
diff --git a/lib/message/mu-message.hh b/lib/message/mu-message.hh
index 8fb9f4d2..0f029f40 100644
--- a/lib/message/mu-message.hh
+++ b/lib/message/mu-message.hh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
-** Copyright (C) 2022-2023 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
+** Copyright (C) 2022-2024 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
 **
 ** This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 ** under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
 #include <vector>
 #include <iostream>
 
+#include "mu-xapian-db.hh"
+
 #include "mu-contact.hh"
 #include "mu-priority.hh"
 #include "mu-flags.hh"
@@ -33,8 +35,6 @@
 #include "mu-message-part.hh"
 #include "mu-message-file.hh"
 
-#include <xapian.h>
-
 #include "utils/mu-utils.hh"
 #include "utils/mu-option.hh"
 #include "utils/mu-result.hh"
diff --git a/lib/mu-config.hh b/lib/mu-config.hh
index afbfda85..17924c7d 100644
--- a/lib/mu-config.hh
+++ b/lib/mu-config.hh
@@ -29,8 +29,6 @@
 #include <variant>
 #include <unordered_map>
 
-#include <xapian.h>
-
 #include "mu-xapian-db.hh"
 
 #include <utils/mu-utils.hh>
diff --git a/lib/mu-query-match-deciders.hh b/lib/mu-query-match-deciders.hh
index 91488a5e..bd196059 100644
--- a/lib/mu-query-match-deciders.hh
+++ b/lib/mu-query-match-deciders.hh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
-** Copyright (C) 2021 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
+** Copyright (C) 2021-2024 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
 **
 ** This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 ** under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 #include <unordered_map>
 #include <memory>
 
-#include <xapian.h>
+#include "mu-xapian-db.hh"
 
 #include "mu-query-results.hh"
 
diff --git a/lib/mu-query-parser.hh b/lib/mu-query-parser.hh
index f78011bf..72b23a7d 100644
--- a/lib/mu-query-parser.hh
+++ b/lib/mu-query-parser.hh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
-** Copyright (C) 2023 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
+** Copyright (C) 2023-2024 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
 **
 ** This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 ** under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
@@ -16,11 +16,9 @@
 ** Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
 **
 */
-#include <memory>
 #include <string>
-#include <array>
 
-#include <xapian.h>
+#include "mu-xapian-db.hh"
 
 #include "utils/mu-sexp.hh"
 #include "utils/mu-result.hh"
diff --git a/lib/mu-query-results.hh b/lib/mu-query-results.hh
index 479bd6c2..0123ab40 100644
--- a/lib/mu-query-results.hh
+++ b/lib/mu-query-results.hh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
-** Copyright (C) 2022 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
+** Copyright (C) 2022-2024 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
 **
 ** This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 ** under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
@@ -33,12 +33,11 @@
 
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
-#include <xapian.h>
 #include <glib.h>
 
+#include <mu-xapian-db.hh>
 #include <utils/mu-utils.hh>
 #include <utils/mu-option.hh>
-#include <mu-xapian-db.hh>
 
 #include <message/mu-message.hh>
 
diff --git a/lib/mu-query.cc b/lib/mu-query.cc
index 730a38c2..5b76005b 100644
--- a/lib/mu-query.cc
+++ b/lib/mu-query.cc
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
-** Copyright (C) 2008-2023 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
+** Copyright (C) 2008-2024 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>
 **
 ** This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 ** it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -26,13 +26,12 @@
 #include <cmath>
 
 #include <stdlib.h>
-#include <xapian.h>
 #include <glib/gstdio.h>
 
+#include "mu-xapian-db.hh"
 #include "mu-query-results.hh"
 #include "mu-query-match-deciders.hh"
 #include "mu-query-threads.hh"
-#include "mu-xapian-db.hh"
 
 #include "mu-query-parser.hh"
 
diff --git a/lib/mu-store.hh b/lib/mu-store.hh
index b6a09236..dd490451 100644
--- a/lib/mu-store.hh
+++ b/lib/mu-store.hh
@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@
 #include <ctime>
 #include <memory>
 
-#include <xapian.h>
-
 #include "mu-contacts-cache.hh"
 #include "mu-xapian-db.hh"
 #include "mu-config.hh"
diff --git a/lib/mu-xapian-db.hh b/lib/mu-xapian-db.hh
index d4fca66d..f9753c60 100644
--- a/lib/mu-xapian-db.hh
+++ b/lib/mu-xapian-db.hh
@@ -29,10 +29,17 @@
 
 #include <glib.h>
 
-#include <xapian.h>
 #include <utils/mu-result.hh>
 #include <utils/mu-utils.hh>
 
+/* starting with 1.4.6, Xapian supports C++ move semantics,
+ * but only with XAPIAN_MOVE_SEMANTICS defined
+ */
+#ifndef XAPIAN_MOVE_SEMANTICS
+#define XAPIAN_MOVE_SEMANTICS
+#endif /*XAPIAN_MOVE_SEMANTICS*/
+#include <xapian.h>
+
 namespace Mu {
 
 // LCOV_EXCL_START
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 84ea0735..5d91a8b6 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -191,13 +191,16 @@ gio_unix_dep   = dependency('gio-unix-2.0', version: '>= 2.60')
 gmime_dep      = dependency('gmime-3.0', version: '>= 3.2')
 thread_dep     = dependency('threads')
 
-# we need Xapian 1.4; if we have 1.4.23, we have some newer APIs.
-xapian_dep     = dependency('xapian-core', version:'>= 1.4.23', required:false)
-if xapian_dep.found()
+# we need Xapian 1.4
+xapian_dep = dependency('xapian-core', version:'>= 1.4', required:true)
+xapver = xapian_dep.version()
+if xapver.version_compare('>= 1.4.6')
+  message('xapian ' + xapver + ' supports c++ move-semantics')
+  config_h_data.set('HAVE_XAPIAN_MOVE_SEMANTICS', 1)
+endif
+if xapver.version_compare('>= 1.4.23')
+  message('xapian ' + xapver + ' supports ngrams')
   config_h_data.set('HAVE_XAPIAN_FLAG_NGRAMS', 1)
-else
-  xapian_dep = dependency('xapian-core', version:'>= 1.4')
-  message('Found xapian ' + xapian_dep.version())
 endif
 
 # optionally, use Compact Language Detector2 if we can find it.
diff --git a/mu/mu-cmd-info.cc b/mu/mu-cmd-info.cc
index fcc96706..2e155fc7 100644
--- a/mu/mu-cmd-info.cc
+++ b/mu/mu-cmd-info.cc
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 
 #include "mu-cmd.hh"
 #include <message/mu-message.hh>
-#include <xapian.h>
 #include "utils/mu-utils.hh"
 
 #include <glib.h>