diff --git a/beets/plugins.py b/beets/plugins.py
index 6dec7ef2a..f10dc5849 100644
--- a/beets/plugins.py
+++ b/beets/plugins.py
@@ -344,6 +344,16 @@ def types(model_cls):
     return types
 
 
+def named_queries(model_cls):
+    # Gather `item_queries` and `album_queries` from the plugins.
+    attr_name = '{0}_queries'.format(model_cls.__name__.lower())
+    queries = {}
+    for plugin in find_plugins():
+        plugin_queries = getattr(plugin, attr_name, {})
+        queries.update(plugin_queries)
+    return queries
+
+
 def track_distance(item, info):
     """Gets the track distance calculated by all loaded plugins.
     Returns a Distance object.
diff --git a/beets/ui/__init__.py b/beets/ui/__init__.py
index 1abce2e67..327db6b04 100644
--- a/beets/ui/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/ui/__init__.py
@@ -1143,8 +1143,12 @@ def _setup(options, lib=None):
     if lib is None:
         lib = _open_library(config)
         plugins.send("library_opened", lib=lib)
+
+    # Add types and queries defined by plugins.
     library.Item._types.update(plugins.types(library.Item))
     library.Album._types.update(plugins.types(library.Album))
+    library.Item._queries.update(plugins.named_queries(library.Item))
+    library.Album._queries.update(plugins.named_queries(library.Album))
 
     return subcommands, plugins, lib
 
diff --git a/docs/dev/plugins.rst b/docs/dev/plugins.rst
index bab0e604d..c9018c394 100644
--- a/docs/dev/plugins.rst
+++ b/docs/dev/plugins.rst
@@ -443,15 +443,24 @@ Extend the Query Syntax
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
 You can add new kinds of queries to beets' :doc:`query syntax
-</reference/query>` indicated by a prefix. As an example, beets already
+</reference/query>`. There are two ways to add custom queries: using a prefix
+and using a name. Prefix-based query extension can apply to *any* field, while
+named queries are not associated with any field. For example, beets already
 supports regular expression queries, which are indicated by a colon
 prefix---plugins can do the same.
 
-To do so, define a subclass of the ``Query`` type from the
-``beets.dbcore.query`` module. Then, in the ``queries`` method of your plugin
-class, return a dictionary mapping prefix strings to query classes.
+For either kind of query extension, define a subclass of the ``Query`` type
+from the ``beets.dbcore.query`` module. Then:
 
-One simple kind of query you can extend is the ``FieldQuery``, which
+- To define a prefix-based query, define a ``queries`` method in your plugin
+  class. Return from this method a dictionary mapping prefix strings to query
+  classes.
+- To define a named query, defined dictionaries named either ``item_queries``
+  or ``album_queries``. These should map names to query types. So if you
+  use ``{ "foo": FooQuery }``, then the query ``foo:bar`` will construct a
+  query like ``FooQuery("bar")``.
+
+For prefix-based queries, you will want to extend ``FieldQuery``, which
 implements string comparisons on fields. To use it, create a subclass
 inheriting from that class and override the ``value_match`` class method.
 (Remember the ``@classmethod`` decorator!) The following example plugin