diff --git a/btreeidx.cc b/btreeidx.cc
index aea9adf6..5806ba20 100644
--- a/btreeidx.cc
+++ b/btreeidx.cc
@@ -900,14 +900,14 @@ static uint32_t buildBtreeNode( IndexedWords::const_iterator & nextIndex,
   return offset;
 }
 
-void IndexedWords::addWord( wstring const & word, uint32_t articleOffset )
+void IndexedWords::addWord( wstring const & word, uint32_t articleOffset, unsigned int maxHeadwordSize )
 {
   wchar const * wordBegin = word.c_str();
   string::size_type wordSize = word.size();
 
   // Safeguard us against various bugs here. Don't attempt adding words
   // which are freakishly huge.
-  if ( wordSize > 256 )
+  if ( wordSize > maxHeadwordSize )
     return;
 
   // Skip any leading whitespace
diff --git a/btreeidx.hh b/btreeidx.hh
index 135c70bc..6fe45046 100644
--- a/btreeidx.hh
+++ b/btreeidx.hh
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ struct IndexedWords: public map< string, vector< WordArticleLink > >
   /// Instead of adding to the map directly, use this function. It does folding
   /// itself, and for phrases/sentences it adds additional entries beginning with
   /// each new word.
-  void addWord( wstring const & word, uint32_t articleOffset );
+  void addWord( wstring const & word, uint32_t articleOffset, unsigned int maxHeadwordSize = 256U );
 
   /// Differs from addWord() in that it only adds a single entry. We use this
   /// for zip's file names.
diff --git a/config.cc b/config.cc
index 44e41db4..0cf4a48c 100644
--- a/config.cc
+++ b/config.cc
@@ -757,6 +757,15 @@ Class load() throw( exError )
   if ( !root.namedItem( "maxPictureWidth" ).isNull() )
     c.maxPictureWidth = root.namedItem( "maxPictureWidth" ).toElement().text().toInt();
 
+  if ( !root.namedItem( "maxHeadwordSize" ).isNull() )
+  {
+    unsigned int value = root.namedItem( "maxHeadwordSize" ).toElement().text().toUInt();
+    if ( value != 0 ) // 0 is invalid value for our purposes
+    {
+      c.maxHeadwordSize = value;
+    }
+  }
+
   return c;
 }
 
@@ -1405,6 +1414,10 @@ void save( Class const & c ) throw( exError )
     opt = dd.createElement( "maxPictureWidth" );
     opt.appendChild( dd.createTextNode( QString::number( c.maxPictureWidth ) ) );
     root.appendChild( opt );
+
+    opt = dd.createElement( "maxHeadwordSize" );
+    opt.appendChild( dd.createTextNode( QString::number( c.maxHeadwordSize ) ) );
+    root.appendChild( opt );
   }
 
   QByteArray result( dd.toByteArray() );
diff --git a/config.hh b/config.hh
index 72253f1e..b7cf8ae8 100644
--- a/config.hh
+++ b/config.hh
@@ -415,12 +415,16 @@ struct Class
 
   int maxPictureWidth; // Maximum picture width
 
+  /// Maximum size for the headwords.
+  /// Bigger headwords won't be indexed. For now, only in DSL.
+  unsigned int maxHeadwordSize;
+
   QString editDictionaryCommandLine; // Command line to call external editor for dictionary
 
   Class(): lastMainGroupId( 0 ), lastPopupGroupId( 0 ),
            pinPopupWindow( false ), showingDictBarNames( false ),
            usingSmallIconsInToolbars( false ), maxDictionaryRefsInContextMenu( 20 ),
-           maxPictureWidth( 0 )
+           maxPictureWidth( 0 ), maxHeadwordSize ( 256U )
   {}
   Group * getGroup( unsigned id );
   Group const * getGroup( unsigned id ) const;
diff --git a/dsl.cc b/dsl.cc
index e35a56ae..47b6c5da 100644
--- a/dsl.cc
+++ b/dsl.cc
@@ -1476,7 +1476,7 @@ vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > makeDictionaries(
                                       vector< string > const & fileNames,
                                       string const & indicesDir,
                                       Dictionary::Initializing & initializing,
-                                      int maxPictureWidth )
+                                      int maxPictureWidth, unsigned int maxHeadwordSize )
   throw( std::exception )
 {
   vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > dictionaries;
@@ -1765,7 +1765,7 @@ vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > makeDictionaries(
           {
             unescapeDsl( *j );
             normalizeHeadword( *j );
-            indexedWords.addWord( *j, descOffset );
+            indexedWords.addWord( *j, descOffset, maxHeadwordSize );
           }
 
           ++articleCount;
@@ -1829,7 +1829,7 @@ vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > makeDictionaries(
             unescapeDsl( (*i).headword );
             normalizeHeadword( (*i).headword );
 
-            indexedWords.addWord( (*i).headword, descOffset );
+            indexedWords.addWord( (*i).headword, descOffset, maxHeadwordSize );
 
             ++articleCount;
             ++wordCount;
diff --git a/dsl.hh b/dsl.hh
index 868f863f..e39b071d 100644
--- a/dsl.hh
+++ b/dsl.hh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > makeDictionaries(
                                       vector< string > const & fileNames,
                                       string const & indicesDir,
                                       Dictionary::Initializing &,
-                                      int maxPictureWidth )
+                                      int maxPictureWidth, unsigned int maxHeadwordSize )
     throw( std::exception );
 
 }
diff --git a/loaddictionaries.cc b/loaddictionaries.cc
index f72f58dd..ee0cd94d 100644
--- a/loaddictionaries.cc
+++ b/loaddictionaries.cc
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ LoadDictionaries::LoadDictionaries( Config::Class const & cfg ):
   paths( cfg.paths ), soundDirs( cfg.soundDirs ), hunspell( cfg.hunspell ),
   transliteration( cfg.transliteration ),
   exceptionText( "Load did not finish" ), // Will be cleared upon success
-  maxPictureWidth( cfg.maxPictureWidth )
+  maxPictureWidth( cfg.maxPictureWidth ),
+  maxHeadwordSize( cfg.maxHeadwordSize )
 {
   // Populate name filters
 
@@ -131,7 +132,8 @@ void LoadDictionaries::handlePath( Config::Path const & path )
 
   {
     vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > dslDictionaries =
-      Dsl::makeDictionaries( allFiles, FsEncoding::encode( Config::getIndexDir() ), *this, maxPictureWidth );
+      Dsl::makeDictionaries(
+          allFiles, FsEncoding::encode( Config::getIndexDir() ), *this, maxPictureWidth, maxHeadwordSize );
 
     dictionaries.insert( dictionaries.end(), dslDictionaries.begin(),
                          dslDictionaries.end() );
diff --git a/loaddictionaries.hh b/loaddictionaries.hh
index 168badcd..e540970c 100644
--- a/loaddictionaries.hh
+++ b/loaddictionaries.hh
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ class LoadDictionaries: public QThread, public Dictionary::Initializing
   std::vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > dictionaries;
   std::string exceptionText;
   int maxPictureWidth;
+  unsigned int maxHeadwordSize;
 
 public: