diff --git a/pkg/sqlite/driver.go b/pkg/sqlite/driver.go
index 01a86d253a..89f2c609fa 100644
--- a/pkg/sqlite/driver.go
+++ b/pkg/sqlite/driver.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ func (d *CustomSQLiteDriver) Open(dsn string) (driver.Conn, error) {
 				"durationToTinyInt": durationToTinyIntFn,
 				"basename":          basenameFn,
 				"phash_distance":    phashDistanceFn,
+				"lower_unicode":     lowerUnicodeFn,
 			}
 
 			for name, fn := range funcs {
diff --git a/pkg/sqlite/functions.go b/pkg/sqlite/functions.go
index f639d0b5b9..03aa4afb26 100644
--- a/pkg/sqlite/functions.go
+++ b/pkg/sqlite/functions.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package sqlite
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
@@ -35,3 +36,27 @@ func durationToTinyIntFn(str string) (int64, error) {
 func basenameFn(str string) (string, error) {
 	return filepath.Base(str), nil
 }
+
+// custom SQLite function to enable case-insensitive searches
+// that properly handle unicode characters
+func lowerUnicodeFn(str interface{}) (string, error) {
+	// handle NULL values
+	if str == nil {
+		return "", nil
+	}
+
+	// handle different types
+	switch v := str.(type) {
+	case string:
+		return strings.ToLower(v), nil
+	case int64:
+		// convert int64 to string (for phash fingerprints)
+		return strings.ToLower(strconv.FormatInt(v, 10)), nil
+	case []byte:
+		// handle BLOB type if needed
+		return strings.ToLower(string(v)), nil
+	default:
+		// for any other type, try converting to string
+		return strings.ToLower(fmt.Sprintf("%v", v)), nil
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/sqlite/performer_test.go b/pkg/sqlite/performer_test.go
index a6add7f7be..18b0132bdf 100644
--- a/pkg/sqlite/performer_test.go
+++ b/pkg/sqlite/performer_test.go
@@ -2698,6 +2698,137 @@ func TestPerformerStore_FindByStashIDStatus(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestPerformerQueryUnicodeSearchCaseInsensitive(t *testing.T) {
+	withTxn(func(ctx context.Context) error {
+		qb := db.Performer
+
+		// test cases with various Unicode characters
+		testCases := []struct {
+			name          string
+			performerName string
+			searchTerm    string
+		}{
+			{
+				"Cyrillic lowercase search",
+				"Анна",
+				"анна",
+			},
+			{
+				"Cyrillic uppercase search",
+				"мария",
+				"МАРИЯ",
+			},
+			{
+				"Accented Latin lowercase",
+				"Zoë",
+				"zoë",
+			},
+			{
+				"Accented Latin uppercase",
+				"chloé",
+				"CHLOÉ",
+			},
+			{
+				"Greek lowercase search",
+				"Έλενα",
+				"έλενα",
+			},
+			{
+				"Pure ASCII term keeps working",
+				"John SMITH",
+				"smith",
+			},
+			{
+				"Mixed ASCII and Cyrillic terms in one query",
+				"ANNA МАРИЯ",
+				"anna мария",
+			},
+		}
+
+		for _, tc := range testCases {
+			t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+				// create performer with unicode name
+				performer := models.Performer{
+					Name: tc.performerName,
+				}
+				err := qb.Create(ctx, &models.CreatePerformerInput{Performer: &performer})
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("Error creating performer: %s", err.Error())
+				}
+
+				// search using different case
+				findFilter := &models.FindFilterType{
+					Q: &tc.searchTerm,
+				}
+
+				performers, _, err := qb.Query(ctx, nil, findFilter)
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("Error querying performers: %s", err.Error())
+				}
+
+				// should find the performer regardless of case
+				found := false
+				for _, p := range performers {
+					if p.ID == performer.ID {
+						found = true
+						break
+					}
+				}
+
+				assert.True(t, found)
+
+				// clean up
+				if err := qb.Destroy(ctx, performer.ID); err != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("Error cleaning up performer: %s", err.Error())
+				}
+			})
+		}
+
+		return nil
+	})
+}
+
+func TestPerformerQuerySearchExcludeTerm(t *testing.T) {
+	withTxn(func(ctx context.Context) error {
+		qb := db.Performer
+
+		performer := models.Performer{
+			Name: "Анна Exclusion",
+		}
+		if err := qb.Create(ctx, &models.CreatePerformerInput{Performer: &performer}); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Error creating performer: %s", err.Error())
+		}
+		defer func() {
+			if err := qb.Destroy(ctx, performer.ID); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("Error cleaning up performer: %s", err.Error())
+			}
+		}()
+
+		find := func(q string) bool {
+			findFilter := &models.FindFilterType{Q: &q}
+			performers, _, err := qb.Query(ctx, nil, findFilter)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("Error querying performers: %s", err.Error())
+			}
+			for _, p := range performers {
+				if p.ID == performer.ID {
+					return true
+				}
+			}
+			return false
+		}
+
+		// excluded ASCII term (fast path)
+		assert.False(t, find("анна -exclusion"))
+		// excluded Unicode term with different case (lower_unicode path)
+		assert.False(t, find("exclusion -АННА"))
+		// non-matching exclusions do not filter the performer out
+		assert.True(t, find("анна -zzznotthere"))
+
+		return nil
+	})
+}
+
 func TestPerformerMerge(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		name    string
diff --git a/pkg/sqlite/query.go b/pkg/sqlite/query.go
index 80c7fcd40a..be14a94050 100644
--- a/pkg/sqlite/query.go
+++ b/pkg/sqlite/query.go
@@ -208,12 +208,36 @@ func (qb *queryBuilder) addFilter(f *filterBuilder) error {
 func (qb *queryBuilder) parseQueryString(columns []string, q string) {
 	specs := models.ParseSearchString(q)
 
+	// helper to wrap column with coalesce if it doesn't already have it
+	wrapColumn := func(column string) string {
+		// if column already has COALESCE or CAST, don't wrap again
+		if strings.HasPrefix(strings.ToUpper(strings.TrimSpace(column)), "COALESCE") ||
+			strings.HasPrefix(strings.ToUpper(strings.TrimSpace(column)), "CAST") {
+			return column
+		}
+		return coalesce(column)
+	}
+
+	// likeClause returns the LIKE predicate for a single column/term pair
+	// and records the bound argument.
+	// The built-in LIKE is already case-insensitive for ASCII, so pure-ASCII
+	// terms keep it and pay no per-row cost; only terms containing non-ASCII
+	// characters go through lower_unicode(), which calls back into Go for
+	// every scanned row.
+	likeClause := func(column, term, op string) string {
+		if isASCII(term) {
+			qb.addArg(like(term))
+			return wrapColumn(column) + " " + op + " ?"
+		}
+		qb.addArg(likeLower(term))
+		return "lower_unicode(" + wrapColumn(column) + ") " + op + " ?"
+	}
+
 	for _, t := range specs.MustHave {
 		var clauses []string
 
 		for _, column := range columns {
-			clauses = append(clauses, column+" LIKE ?")
-			qb.addArg(like(t))
+			clauses = append(clauses, likeClause(column, t, "LIKE"))
 		}
 
 		qb.addWhere("(" + strings.Join(clauses, " OR ") + ")")
@@ -221,8 +245,7 @@ func (qb *queryBuilder) parseQueryString(columns []string, q string) {
 
 	for _, t := range specs.MustNot {
 		for _, column := range columns {
-			qb.addWhere(coalesce(column) + " NOT LIKE ?")
-			qb.addArg(like(t))
+			qb.addWhere(likeClause(column, t, "NOT LIKE"))
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -231,8 +254,7 @@ func (qb *queryBuilder) parseQueryString(columns []string, q string) {
 
 		for _, column := range columns {
 			for _, v := range set {
-				clauses = append(clauses, column+" LIKE ?")
-				qb.addArg(like(v))
+				clauses = append(clauses, likeClause(column, v, "LIKE"))
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/pkg/sqlite/scene.go b/pkg/sqlite/scene.go
index 5f60b43d12..4d0ea609d8 100644
--- a/pkg/sqlite/scene.go
+++ b/pkg/sqlite/scene.go
@@ -1044,7 +1044,7 @@ func (qb *SceneStore) makeQuery(ctx context.Context, sceneFilter *models.SceneFi
 			},
 		)
 
-		filepathColumn := "folders.path || '" + string(filepath.Separator) + "' || files.basename"
+		filepathColumn := "COALESCE(folders.path, '') || '" + string(filepath.Separator) + "' || COALESCE(files.basename, '')"
 		searchColumns := []string{"scenes.title", "scenes.details", filepathColumn, "files_fingerprints.fingerprint", "scene_markers.title"}
 		query.parseQueryString(searchColumns, *q)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/sqlite/sql.go b/pkg/sqlite/sql.go
index 34cae84f66..217b2218d7 100644
--- a/pkg/sqlite/sql.go
+++ b/pkg/sqlite/sql.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
+	"unicode/utf8"
 
 	"github.com/stashapp/stash/pkg/models"
 )
@@ -375,10 +376,27 @@ func coalesce(column string) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("COALESCE(%s, '')", column)
 }
 
+// wraps a string with wildcard characters for use in LIKE queries
 func like(v string) string {
 	return "%" + v + "%"
 }
 
+// wraps a string with wildcard characters and converts it to lowercase
+// for use in case-insensitive LIKE queries with the lower_unicode() SQL function.
+func likeLower(v string) string {
+	return "%" + strings.ToLower(v) + "%"
+}
+
+// isASCII reports whether s contains only ASCII bytes.
+func isASCII(s string) bool {
+	for i := 0; i < len(s); i++ {
+		if s[i] >= utf8.RuneSelf {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
 type sqlTable string
 
 func (t sqlTable) Name() string {