diff --git a/src/mu-util-xapian.cc b/src/mu-util-xapian.cc
index 306a12eb..dc30a484 100644
--- a/src/mu-util-xapian.cc
+++ b/src/mu-util-xapian.cc
@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@ mu_util_xapian_db_version (const gchar *xpath)
 		Xapian::Database db (xpath);
 		const std::string version
 			(db.get_metadata (MU_XAPIAN_VERSION_KEY));
+
+		MU_WRITE_LOG ("database version: '%s', expected '%s'",
+			      version.empty() ? "<none>" : version.c_str(),
+			      MU_XAPIAN_DB_VERSION);
 		
 		return version.empty() ? NULL : g_strdup (version.c_str());
 		
@@ -80,6 +84,8 @@ mu_util_xapian_clear_database (const gchar *xpath)
 			(xpath, Xapian::DB_CREATE_OR_OVERWRITE);
 		db.flush ();
 		
+		MU_WRITE_LOG ("emptied database %s", xpath);
+		
 		return TRUE;
 		
 	} MU_XAPIAN_CATCH_BLOCK;
diff --git a/src/mu-util-xapian.h b/src/mu-util-xapian.h
index 67066fdc..7fda1e7e 100644
--- a/src/mu-util-xapian.h
+++ b/src/mu-util-xapian.h
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ G_BEGIN_DECLS
  * @return the version of the database as a newly allocated string
  * (free with g_free); if there is no version yet, it will return NULL
  */
-char* mu_util_xapian_db_version (const gchar *xpath);
+gchar* mu_util_xapian_db_version (const gchar *xpath) G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT;
 
 
 /** 
@@ -47,8 +47,6 @@ char* mu_util_xapian_db_version (const gchar *xpath);
  */
 gboolean mu_util_xapian_db_version_up_to_date (const gchar *xpath);
 
-
-
 /** 
  * clear the database, ie., remove all of the contents. This is a
  * destructive operation, but the database can be restored be doing a