diff --git a/lib/mu-msg-file.c b/lib/mu-msg-file.c
index 9b795995..d28da180 100644
--- a/lib/mu-msg-file.c
+++ b/lib/mu-msg-file.c
@@ -541,8 +541,8 @@ get_references  (MuMsgFile *self)
 			msgid = g_mime_references_get_message_id (cur);
 			/* don't include duplicates */
 			if (msgid && !contains (msgids, msgid))
-				/* explicitly ensure it's utf8-safe, as GMime
-				 * does not ensure that */
+				/* explicitly ensure it's utf8-safe,
+				 * as GMime does not ensure that */
 				msgids = g_slist_prepend (msgids,
 							  g_strdup((msgid)));
 		}
@@ -625,6 +625,22 @@ recipient_type (MuMsgFieldId mfid)
 	}
 }
 
+static gchar*
+get_msgid (MuMsgFile *self, gboolean *do_free)
+{
+	const char *msgid;
+
+	msgid = g_mime_message_get_message_id (self->_mime_msg);
+	if (msgid)
+		return (char*)msgid;
+	else { /* if there is none, fake it */
+		*do_free = TRUE;
+		return g_strdup_printf (
+			"%s@fake-msgid",
+			mu_util_get_hash (self->_path));
+	}
+}
+
 
 char*
 mu_msg_file_get_str_field (MuMsgFile *self, MuMsgFieldId mfid,
@@ -659,7 +675,7 @@ mu_msg_file_get_str_field (MuMsgFile *self, MuMsgFieldId mfid,
 			 self->_path, do_free);
 
 	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_MSGID:
-		return (char*)g_mime_message_get_message_id (self->_mime_msg);
+		return get_msgid (self, do_free);
 
 	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_MAILDIR: return self->_maildir;
 
diff --git a/lib/mu-msg-iter.cc b/lib/mu-msg-iter.cc
index 9ab01a6f..d8a8171f 100644
--- a/lib/mu-msg-iter.cc
+++ b/lib/mu-msg-iter.cc
@@ -125,22 +125,27 @@ public:
 
 	MuMsgIterFlags flags() const { return _flags; }
 
+	const std::string msgid () const {
+		const Xapian::Document doc (cursor().get_document());
+		return doc.get_value(MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_PATH);
+	}
+
+	unsigned docid () const {
+		const Xapian::Document doc (cursor().get_document());
+		return doc.get_docid();
+	}
+
+
 	bool looks_like_dup () const {
 		try {
 			const Xapian::Document doc (cursor().get_document());
-			const std::string msgid	(doc.get_value(MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_MSGID));
-			unsigned docid (doc.get_docid());
-
-			if (msgid.empty())
-				return false;
-
 			// is this message in the preferred map? if
 			// so, it's not a duplicate, otherwise, it
 			// isn't
-			msgid_docid_map::const_iterator pref_iter (_preferred_map.find (msgid));
+			msgid_docid_map::const_iterator pref_iter (_preferred_map.find (msgid()));
 			if (pref_iter != _preferred_map.end()) {
 				//std::cerr << "in the set!" << std::endl;
-				if ((*pref_iter).second == docid)
+				if ((*pref_iter).second == docid())
 					return false; // in the set: not a dup!
 				else
 					return true;
@@ -148,10 +153,10 @@ public:
 
 			// otherwise, simply check if we've already seen this message-id,
 			// and, if so, it's considered a dup
-			if (_msg_uid_set.find (msgid) != _msg_uid_set.end()) {
+			if (_msg_uid_set.find (msgid()) != _msg_uid_set.end()) {
 				return true;
 			} else {
-				_msg_uid_set.insert (msgid);
+				_msg_uid_set.insert (msgid());
 				return false;
 			}
 		} catch (...) {
@@ -159,7 +164,8 @@ public:
 		}
 	}
 
-	static void each_preferred (const char *msgid, gpointer docidp, msgid_docid_map *preferred_map) {
+	static void each_preferred (const char *msgid, gpointer docidp,
+				    msgid_docid_map *preferred_map) {
 		(*preferred_map)[msgid] = GPOINTER_TO_SIZE(docidp);
 	}
 
@@ -346,7 +352,7 @@ mu_msg_iter_get_docid (MuMsgIter *iter)
 	g_return_val_if_fail (!mu_msg_iter_is_done(iter),
 			      (unsigned int)-1);
 	try {
-		return iter->cursor().get_document().get_docid();
+		return iter->docid();
 
 	} MU_XAPIAN_CATCH_BLOCK_RETURN ((unsigned int)-1);
 }
@@ -360,10 +366,7 @@ mu_msg_iter_get_msgid (MuMsgIter *iter)
 	g_return_val_if_fail (!mu_msg_iter_is_done(iter), NULL);
 
 	try {
-		const std::string msgid (
-			iter->cursor().get_document().get_value(MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_MSGID).c_str());
-
-		return msgid.empty() ? NULL : msgid.c_str();
+		return iter->msgid().c_str();
 
 	} MU_XAPIAN_CATCH_BLOCK_RETURN (NULL);
 }
diff --git a/lib/mu-msg.h b/lib/mu-msg.h
index 50ba117c..3c14579b 100644
--- a/lib/mu-msg.h
+++ b/lib/mu-msg.h
@@ -261,9 +261,9 @@ const char*     mu_msg_get_subject         (MuMsg *msg);
  *
  * @param msg a valid MuMsg* instance
  *
- * @return the Message-Id of this message (without the enclosing <>)
- * or NULL in case of error or if there is none. the returned string
- * should *not* be modified or freed.
+ * @return the Message-Id of this message (without the enclosing <>),
+ * or a fake message-id for messages that don't have them, or NULL in
+ * case of error.
  */
 const char*     mu_msg_get_msgid           (MuMsg *msg);
 
diff --git a/lib/mu-store-write.cc b/lib/mu-store-write.cc
index c08806fa..56e02843 100644
--- a/lib/mu-store-write.cc
+++ b/lib/mu-store-write.cc
@@ -460,6 +460,7 @@ add_terms_values_attach (Xapian::Document& doc, MuMsg *msg,
 			     (MuMsgPartForeachFunc)each_part, &pdata);
 }
 
+
 /* escape the body -- for now, only replace '-' with '_' */
 static void
 body_escape_in_place (char *body)
@@ -559,7 +560,6 @@ add_terms_values (MuMsgFieldId mfid, MsgDoc* msgdoc)
 	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_MIME:
 	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_EMBEDDED_TEXT:
 		break;
-	///////////////////////////////////////////
 
 	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_THREAD_ID:
 	case MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_UID: