diff --git a/src/search/fts.rs b/src/search/fts.rs
index 276a0fd..9ac0916 100644
--- a/src/search/fts.rs
+++ b/src/search/fts.rs
@@ -257,7 +257,8 @@ mod tests {
     #[test]
     fn test_raw_mode_leading_wildcard_falls_back_to_safe() {
         let result = to_fts_query("* OR auth", FtsQueryMode::Raw);
-        assert_eq!(result, "\"*\" \"OR\" \"auth\"");
+        // Falls back to Safe mode; OR is an FTS5 operator so it passes through unquoted
+        assert_eq!(result, "\"*\" OR \"auth\"");
 
         let result = to_fts_query("*", FtsQueryMode::Raw);
         assert_eq!(result, "\"*\"");