diff --git a/extensions/search/pkg/config/config.go b/extensions/search/pkg/config/config.go
index 788ceec85..ae90144ec 100644
--- a/extensions/search/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/extensions/search/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ type Config struct {
 
 	GRPC GRPC `ocisConfig:"grpc"`
 
+	Datapath     string       `yaml:"data_path" env:"SEARCH_DATA_PATH"`
 	Reva         Reva         `ocisConfig:"reva"`
 	TokenManager TokenManager `ocisConfig:"token_manager"`
 	Events       Events       `yaml:"events"`
diff --git a/extensions/search/pkg/config/defaults/defaultconfig.go b/extensions/search/pkg/config/defaults/defaultconfig.go
index 9f3368b0b..8d18bf9e2 100644
--- a/extensions/search/pkg/config/defaults/defaultconfig.go
+++ b/extensions/search/pkg/config/defaults/defaultconfig.go
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 package defaults
 
 import (
+	"path"
+
 	"github.com/owncloud/ocis/extensions/search/pkg/config"
+	"github.com/owncloud/ocis/ocis-pkg/config/defaults"
 )
 
 func DefaultConfig() *config.Config {
@@ -17,6 +20,7 @@ func DefaultConfig() *config.Config {
 		Service: config.Service{
 			Name: "search",
 		},
+		Datapath: path.Join(defaults.BaseDataPath(), "search"),
 		Reva: config.Reva{
 			Address: "127.0.0.1:9142",
 		},
diff --git a/extensions/search/pkg/service/v0/service.go b/extensions/search/pkg/service/v0/service.go
index 4bc989ad9..a214fa1bd 100644
--- a/extensions/search/pkg/service/v0/service.go
+++ b/extensions/search/pkg/service/v0/service.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package service
 import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
+	"path/filepath"
 
 	"github.com/blevesearch/bleve/v2"
 	revactx "github.com/cs3org/reva/v2/pkg/ctx"
@@ -42,9 +43,13 @@ func NewHandler(opts ...Option) (searchsvc.SearchProviderHandler, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	bleveIndex, err := bleve.NewMemOnly(index.BuildMapping())
+	indexDir := filepath.Join(cfg.Datapath, "index.bleve")
+	bleveIndex, err := bleve.Open(indexDir)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		bleveIndex, err = bleve.New(indexDir, index.BuildMapping())
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
 	}
 	index, err := index.New(bleveIndex)
 	if err != nil {