diff --git a/bigchaindb/core.py b/bigchaindb/core.py
index 661ac740..e33c91e4 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/core.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/core.py
@@ -217,26 +217,27 @@ class Bigchain(object):
         else:
             return None
 
-    def get_tx_by_payload_hash(self, payload_hash):
+    def get_tx_by_payload_uuid(self, payload_uuid):
         """Retrieves transactions related to a digital asset.
 
         When creating a transaction one of the optional arguments is the `payload`. The payload is a generic
         dict that contains information about the digital asset.
 
-        To make it easy to query the bigchain for that digital asset we create a sha3-256 hash of the
-        serialized payload and store it with the transaction. This makes it easy for developers to keep track
-        of their digital assets in bigchain.
+        To make it easy to query the bigchain for that digital asset we create a UUID for the payload and 
+        store it with the transaction. This makes it easy for developers to keep track of their digital 
+        assets in bigchain.
 
         Args:
-            payload_hash (str): sha3-256 hash of the serialized payload.
+            payload_uuid (str): the UUID for this particular payload.
 
         Returns:
             A list of transactions containing that payload. If no transaction exists with that payload it
             returns an empty list `[]`
         """
-
         cursor = r.table('bigchain') \
-            .get_all(payload_hash, index='payload_hash') \
+            .get_all(payload_uuid, index='payload_uuid') \
+            .concat_map(lambda block: block['block']['transactions']) \
+            .filter(lambda transaction: transaction['transaction']['data']['uuid'] == payload_uuid) \
             .run(self.conn)
 
         transactions = list(cursor)
diff --git a/bigchaindb/db/utils.py b/bigchaindb/db/utils.py
index 13a48a4a..882c982c 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/db/utils.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/db/utils.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ 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)
diff --git a/tests/db/conftest.py b/tests/db/conftest.py
index c1a0876c..432303cc 100644
--- a/tests/db/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/db/conftest.py
@@ -45,6 +45,12 @@ def setup_database(request, node_config):
     r.db(db_name).table('bigchain').index_create('block_number', r.row['block']['block_number']).run()
     # to order transactions by timestamp
     r.db(db_name).table('backlog').index_create('transaction_timestamp', r.row['transaction']['timestamp']).run()
+    # to query by payload uuid
+    r.db(db_name).table('bigchain').index_create(
+        'payload_uuid', 
+        r.row['block']['transactions']['transaction']['data']['uuid'], 
+        multi=True,
+    ).run()
     # compound index to read transactions from the backlog per assignee
     r.db(db_name).table('backlog')\
         .index_create('assignee__transaction_timestamp', [r.row['assignee'], r.row['transaction']['timestamp']])\
diff --git a/tests/db/test_bigchain_api.py b/tests/db/test_bigchain_api.py
index bf2d0bba..5d7a29e3 100644
--- a/tests/db/test_bigchain_api.py
+++ b/tests/db/test_bigchain_api.py
@@ -56,6 +56,22 @@ class TestBigchainApi(object):
         assert len(tx['transaction']['data']['uuid']) == 36
         assert tx['transaction']['data']['payload'] == payload
 
+    def test_get_transactions_for_payload(self, b, user_vk):
+        payload = {'msg': 'Hello BigchainDB!'}
+        tx = b.create_transaction(b.me, user_vk, None, 'CREATE', payload=payload)
+        payload_uuid = tx['transaction']['data']['uuid']
+
+        block = b.create_block([tx])
+        b.write_block(block, durability='hard')
+
+        matches = b.get_tx_by_payload_uuid(payload_uuid)
+        assert len(matches) == 1
+        assert matches[0]['id'] == tx['id']
+
+    def test_get_transactions_for_payload_mismatch(self, b, user_vk):
+        matches = b.get_tx_by_payload_uuid('missing')
+        assert not matches
+
     @pytest.mark.usefixtures('inputs')
     def test_create_transaction_transfer(self, b, user_vk, user_sk):
         input_tx = b.get_owned_ids(user_vk).pop()