diff --git a/bigchaindb/db/utils.py b/bigchaindb/db/utils.py
index 13a48a4a..726a08b7 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/db/utils.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/db/utils.py
@@ -52,10 +52,14 @@ def init():
     r.db(dbname).table('backlog')\
         .index_create('assignee__transaction_timestamp', [r.row['assignee'], r.row['transaction']['timestamp']])\
         .run(conn)
-    # secondary index for payload hash
+    # secondary index for payload data by UUID
     r.db(dbname).table('bigchain')\
         .index_create('payload_uuid', r.row['block']['transactions']['transaction']['data']['uuid'], multi=True)\
         .run(conn)
+    # secondary index for payload hash
+    r.db(dbname).table('bigchain')\
+        .index_create('payload_hash', r.row['block']['transactions']['transaction']['data']['hash'], multi=True)\
+        .run(conn)
 
     # wait for rethinkdb to finish creating secondary indexes
     r.db(dbname).table('backlog').index_wait().run(conn)