diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c7a838612..9a272d4a2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 ## Added
 - Implement [FEP-67ff](https://codeberg.org/fediverse/fep/src/branch/main/fep/67ff/fep-67ff.md) (federation documentation)
 
+## Added
+- Meilisearch: it is now possible to use separate keys for search and admin actions
+
 ## Fixed
 - Meilisearch: order of results returned from our REST API now actually matches how Meilisearch ranks results
 
diff --git a/docs/docs/configuration/search.md b/docs/docs/configuration/search.md
index 1e343032f..4c6bc412f 100644
--- a/docs/docs/configuration/search.md
+++ b/docs/docs/configuration/search.md
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ indexes faster when it can process many posts in a single batch.
 > config :pleroma, Pleroma.Search.Meilisearch,
 >    url: "http://127.0.0.1:7700/",
 >    private_key: "private key",
+>    search_key: "search key",
 >    initial_indexing_chunk_size: 100_000
 
 Information about setting up meilisearch can be found in the
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ is hardly usable on a somewhat big instance.
 ### Private key authentication (optional)
 
 To set the private key, use the `MEILI_MASTER_KEY` environment variable when starting. After setting the _master key_,
-you have to get the _private key_, which is actually used for authentication.
+you have to get the _private key_ and possibly _search key_, which are actually used for authentication.
 
 === "OTP"
     ```sh
@@ -57,7 +58,11 @@ you have to get the _private key_, which is actually used for authentication.
     mix pleroma.search.meilisearch show-keys <your master key here>
     ```
 
-You will see a "Default Admin API Key", this is the key you actually put into your configuration file.
+You will see a "Default Admin API Key", this is the key you actually put into
+your configuration file as `private_key`. You should also see a
+"Default Search API key", put this into your config as `search_key`.
+If your version of Meilisearch only showed the former,
+just leave `search_key` completely unset in Akkoma's config.
 
 ### Initial indexing
 
diff --git a/lib/pleroma/search/meilisearch.ex b/lib/pleroma/search/meilisearch.ex
index 822c95b4a..e6213d37f 100644
--- a/lib/pleroma/search/meilisearch.ex
+++ b/lib/pleroma/search/meilisearch.ex
@@ -8,11 +8,24 @@ defmodule Pleroma.Search.Meilisearch do
 
   @behaviour Pleroma.Search.SearchBackend
 
-  defp meili_headers do
-    private_key = Pleroma.Config.get([Pleroma.Search.Meilisearch, :private_key])
+  defp meili_headers(key) do
+    key_header =
+      if is_nil(key), do: [], else: [{"Authorization", "Bearer #{key}"}]
 
-    [{"Content-Type", "application/json"}] ++
-      if is_nil(private_key), do: [], else: [{"Authorization", "Bearer #{private_key}"}]
+    [{"Content-Type", "application/json"} | key_header]
+  end
+
+  defp meili_headers_admin do
+    private_key = Pleroma.Config.get([Pleroma.Search.Meilisearch, :private_key])
+    meili_headers(private_key)
+  end
+
+  defp meili_headers_search do
+    search_key =
+      Pleroma.Config.get([Pleroma.Search.Meilisearch, :search_key]) ||
+        Pleroma.Config.get([Pleroma.Search.Meilisearch, :private_key])
+
+    meili_headers(search_key)
   end
 
   def meili_get(path) do
@@ -21,7 +34,7 @@ defmodule Pleroma.Search.Meilisearch do
     result =
       Pleroma.HTTP.get(
         Path.join(endpoint, path),
-        meili_headers()
+        meili_headers_admin()
       )
 
     with {:ok, res} <- result do
@@ -29,14 +42,14 @@ defmodule Pleroma.Search.Meilisearch do
     end
   end
 
-  def meili_post(path, params) do
+  defp meili_search(params) do
     endpoint = Pleroma.Config.get([Pleroma.Search.Meilisearch, :url])
 
     result =
       Pleroma.HTTP.post(
-        Path.join(endpoint, path),
+        Path.join(endpoint, "/indexes/objects/search"),
         Jason.encode!(params),
-        meili_headers()
+        meili_headers_search()
       )
 
     with {:ok, res} <- result do
@@ -52,7 +65,7 @@ defmodule Pleroma.Search.Meilisearch do
         :put,
         Path.join(endpoint, path),
         Jason.encode!(params),
-        meili_headers(),
+        meili_headers_admin(),
         []
       )
 
@@ -69,7 +82,7 @@ defmodule Pleroma.Search.Meilisearch do
         :delete,
         Path.join(endpoint, path),
         "",
-        meili_headers(),
+        meili_headers_admin(),
         []
       )
   end
@@ -80,10 +93,7 @@ defmodule Pleroma.Search.Meilisearch do
     author = Keyword.get(options, :author)
 
     res =
-      meili_post(
-        "/indexes/objects/search",
-        %{q: query, offset: offset, limit: limit}
-      )
+      meili_search(%{q: query, offset: offset, limit: limit})
 
     with {:ok, result} <- res do
       hits = result["hits"] |> Enum.map(& &1["ap"])