diff --git a/pkg/sqlite/driver.go b/pkg/sqlite/driver.go
index 01a86d253..89f2c609f 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 f639d0b5b..03aa4afb2 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 d5d8ce2fa..cd3d73a33 100644
--- a/pkg/sqlite/performer_test.go
+++ b/pkg/sqlite/performer_test.go
@@ -2432,6 +2432,86 @@ 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",
+			},
+		}
+
+		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
+	})
+}
+
 // TODO Update
 // TODO Destroy
 // TODO Find
diff --git a/pkg/sqlite/query.go b/pkg/sqlite/query.go
index 4f4c0c8db..cf2c9f3bb 100644
--- a/pkg/sqlite/query.go
+++ b/pkg/sqlite/query.go
@@ -181,12 +181,22 @@ 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)
+	}
+
 	for _, t := range specs.MustHave {
 		var clauses []string
 
 		for _, column := range columns {
-			clauses = append(clauses, column+" LIKE ?")
-			qb.addArg(like(t))
+			clauses = append(clauses, "lower_unicode("+wrapColumn(column)+") LIKE ?")
+			qb.addArg(likeLower(t))
 		}
 
 		qb.addWhere("(" + strings.Join(clauses, " OR ") + ")")
@@ -194,8 +204,8 @@ 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("lower_unicode(" + wrapColumn(column) + ") NOT LIKE ?")
+			qb.addArg(likeLower(t))
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -204,8 +214,8 @@ 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, "lower_unicode("+wrapColumn(column)+") LIKE ?")
+				qb.addArg(likeLower(v))
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/pkg/sqlite/scene.go b/pkg/sqlite/scene.go
index 0a7829f28..f73913d64 100644
--- a/pkg/sqlite/scene.go
+++ b/pkg/sqlite/scene.go
@@ -958,7 +958,7 @@ 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 780d2e988..cea048dd8 100644
--- a/pkg/sqlite/sql.go
+++ b/pkg/sqlite/sql.go
@@ -359,6 +359,8 @@ func coalesce(column string) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("COALESCE(%s, '')", column)
 }
 
-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) + "%"
 }