diff --git a/qutebrowser/misc/sql.py b/qutebrowser/misc/sql.py
index 00527e7fe..65a93a461 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/misc/sql.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/misc/sql.py
@@ -115,6 +115,11 @@ def init(db_path):
         raise SqliteError("Failed to open sqlite database at {}: {}"
                           .format(db_path, error.text()), error)
 
+    # Enable write-ahead-logging and reduce disk write frequency
+    # see https://sqlite.org/pragma.html and issues #2930 and #3507
+    Query("PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL").run()
+    Query("PRAGMA synchronous=NORMAL").run()
+
 
 def close():
     """Close the SQL connection."""