diff --git a/core/dr-catalog/src/keywords.rs b/core/dr-catalog/src/keywords.rs
index 4326234..84e1b8f 100644
--- a/core/dr-catalog/src/keywords.rs
+++ b/core/dr-catalog/src/keywords.rs
@@ -491,7 +491,12 @@ pub fn adopt_orphan_terms(conn: &Connection) -> Result<usize, CatalogError> {
             // quietly readmitted to the vocabulary; it stays visible as an
             // orphan in [`for_images`] instead, which is a state someone can
             // see and act on rather than one that silently undoes a deletion.
-            "SELECT DISTINCT k.keyword FROM keywords k
+            //
+            // The distinct words first, then the check: the vocabulary has no
+            // index a tombstone-inclusive lookup can use, so checking once per
+            // assignment scanned it 10,000 times on every open. Once per word
+            // is a few dozen scans of a few dozen rows.
+            "SELECT k.keyword FROM (SELECT DISTINCT keyword FROM keywords) k
               WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM keyword_terms t
                                  WHERE t.name = k.keyword)",
         )?;