diff --git a/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/embeddings.js b/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/embeddings.js
index 61154a43fb..9227842d31 100644
--- a/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/embeddings.js
+++ b/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/embeddings.js
@@ -763,6 +763,54 @@ Zotero.Embeddings = new function () {
 			(score - minScore) / (maxDisplayScore - minScore)));
 	};
 
+	/**
+	 * The item fields whose text is embedded, and so the fields a query can
+	 * match literally.
+	 *
+	 * @return {Number[]}
+	 */
+	this.getIndexedFieldIDs = function () {
+		return [...new Set([
+			Zotero.ItemFields.getID('title'),
+			Zotero.ItemFields.getID('abstractNote'),
+			...Zotero.ItemFields.getTypeFieldsFromBase('title')
+		])];
+	};
+
+	// Items among the given ones whose indexed text contains every word of the
+	// query, matched as substrings the way quick search matches them.
+	async function _findLiteralMatches(queryText, itemIDs) {
+		let terms = Zotero.Embeddings.normalizeQuery(queryText).split(/\s+/).filter(Boolean);
+		if (!terms.length || !itemIDs.length) {
+			return new Set();
+		}
+		let fieldIDs = Zotero.Embeddings.getIndexedFieldIDs();
+		let matched = null;
+		for (let term of terms) {
+			let ids = new Set();
+			let chunkSize = 500;
+			for (let i = 0; i < itemIDs.length; i += chunkSize) {
+				let chunk = itemIDs.slice(i, i + chunkSize);
+				let rows = await Zotero.DB.columnQueryAsync(
+					"SELECT DISTINCT itemID FROM itemData "
+						+ "JOIN itemDataValues USING (valueID) "
+						+ "WHERE fieldID IN (" + fieldIDs.join(',') + ") "
+						+ "AND itemID IN (" + chunk.map(() => '?').join(',') + ") "
+						+ "AND value LIKE ? ESCAPE '\\'",
+					[...chunk, '%' + term.replace(/[\\%_]/g, '\\$&') + '%']
+				);
+				for (let id of rows || []) {
+					ids.add(id);
+				}
+			}
+			matched = matched ? new Set([...matched].filter(id => ids.has(id))) : ids;
+			if (!matched.size) {
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+		return matched;
+	}
+
 	// mozStorage returns a BLOB as an array of byte values; reinterpret those
 	// bytes as the stored Float32 embedding vector.
 	function _blobToVector(blob) {
@@ -773,9 +821,12 @@ Zotero.Embeddings = new function () {
 	/**
 	 * Score a given set of items by similarity to a query. Items without a
 	 * stored embedding aren't scored, and neither are items scoring below the
-	 * model's minimum, which aren't matches (see minScore in MODELS). Used to
-	 * apply semantic ranking within an existing result scope (e.g. the current
-	 * collection) rather than the whole library.
+	 * model's minimum, which aren't matches (see minScore in MODELS) -- unless
+	 * nothing clears it, in which case items whose text contains the query's
+	 * words are scored, since the model missing what an item says literally
+	 * shouldn't leave the search with nothing to show. Used to apply semantic
+	 * ranking within an existing result scope (e.g. the current collection)
+	 * rather than the whole library.
 	 *
 	 * @param {String} queryText
 	 * @param {Number[]} itemIDs - Candidate item IDs to score
@@ -787,6 +838,7 @@ Zotero.Embeddings = new function () {
 	 */
 	this.scoreItemIDs = async function (queryText, itemIDs, { shouldCancel } = {}) {
 		let scores = new Map();
+		let belowFloor = new Map();
 		if (!itemIDs.length || !this.isEnabled()) {
 			return scores;
 		}
@@ -839,6 +891,18 @@ Zotero.Embeddings = new function () {
 				if (dot >= minScore) {
 					scores.set(row.itemID, dot);
 				}
+				else {
+					belowFloor.set(row.itemID, dot);
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		// Nothing was similar enough to the query to be a match, so fall back to
+		// the items that use its words, ranked by their own scores, which leave
+		// the relevance bar empty
+		if (!scores.size && belowFloor.size) {
+			let literal = await _findLiteralMatches(queryText, [...belowFloor.keys()]);
+			for (let itemID of literal) {
+				scores.set(itemID, belowFloor.get(itemID));
 			}
 		}
 		if (generation !== _modelGeneration) {
@@ -1104,11 +1168,7 @@ Zotero.Embeddings.Indexing = new function () {
 	//
 	// @return {Promise<Map>} - libraryID -> [itemID, ...]
 	async function _getEligibleItemIDs() {
-		let fieldIDs = [...new Set([
-			Zotero.ItemFields.getID('title'),
-			Zotero.ItemFields.getID('abstractNote'),
-			...Zotero.ItemFields.getTypeFieldsFromBase('title')
-		])];
+		let fieldIDs = Zotero.Embeddings.getIndexedFieldIDs();
 		let rows = await Zotero.DB.queryAsync(
 			"SELECT libraryID, itemID, value FROM itemData "
 				+ "JOIN itemDataValues USING (valueID) "
diff --git a/test/tests/embeddingsTest.js b/test/tests/embeddingsTest.js
index 3612334a0c..850e27a54a 100644
--- a/test/tests/embeddingsTest.js
+++ b/test/tests/embeddingsTest.js
@@ -89,6 +89,67 @@ describe("Zotero.Embeddings", function () {
 				Zotero.Prefs.clear('embeddings.model');
 			}
 		});
+
+		it("should fall back to text matches when nothing clears the minimum", async function () {
+			Zotero.Prefs.set('embeddings.model', 'bge-small-en-v1.5');
+			await Zotero.Embeddings.initDB();
+			let mean = Zotero.Embeddings.getMeanVector();
+
+			let axis = (index, scale = 1) => {
+				let vector = Float32Array.from(mean);
+				vector[index] += scale;
+				return vector;
+			};
+			let store = async (item, vector) => {
+				let blob = new Uint8Array(vector.buffer, vector.byteOffset, vector.byteLength);
+				await Zotero.DB.queryAsync(
+					"REPLACE INTO embeddings.itemEmbeddings (itemID, embedding, sourceHash) "
+						+ "VALUES (?, ?, 'hash')",
+					[item.id, blob], { debugParams: false }
+				);
+			};
+			// Neither item is close to the query, but one says the word
+			let literal = await createDataObject('item',
+				{ title: 'Migratory timing in Arctic-breeding shorebirds' });
+			await store(literal, axis(1));
+			let unrelated = await createDataObject('item',
+				{ title: 'Guild regulation in early modern Nuremberg' });
+			await store(unrelated, axis(2));
+
+			let stubs = [
+				sinon.stub(Zotero.Embeddings, 'isEnabled').returns(true),
+				sinon.stub(Zotero.Embeddings, 'getModelVersion').returns('test-model/1'),
+				sinon.stub(Zotero.Embeddings, 'embedQuery').resolves(axis(0))
+			];
+			await Zotero.DB.queryAsync(
+				"REPLACE INTO embeddings.itemEmbeddingsMeta (key, value) "
+					+ "VALUES ('modelVersion', 'test-model/1')"
+			);
+			try {
+				let scores = await Zotero.Embeddings.scoreItemIDs('birds',
+					[literal.id, unrelated.id]);
+				assert.isTrue(scores.has(literal.id));
+				assert.isBelow(scores.get(literal.id), 0.2);
+				assert.isFalse(scores.has(unrelated.id));
+
+				// Every word has to appear
+				scores = await Zotero.Embeddings.scoreItemIDs('breeding penguins',
+					[literal.id, unrelated.id]);
+				assert.isFalse(scores.has(literal.id));
+
+				// With a real match to show, text matches stay out of it
+				let match = await createDataObject('item', { title: 'Birds' });
+				await store(match, axis(0));
+				scores = await Zotero.Embeddings.scoreItemIDs('birds',
+					[literal.id, unrelated.id, match.id]);
+				assert.isTrue(scores.has(match.id));
+				assert.isFalse(scores.has(literal.id));
+			}
+			finally {
+				stubs.forEach(stub => stub.restore());
+				Zotero.Prefs.clear('embeddings.model');
+			}
+		});
 	});
 
 	describe("#getScoreFraction()", function () {