diff --git a/resources/fts_sqlite.sql b/resources/fts_sqlite.sql
index 8ef19cfd3b..d2b0bd764f 100644
--- a/resources/fts_sqlite.sql
+++ b/resources/fts_sqlite.sql
@@ -10,10 +10,11 @@ CREATE TABLE fts_db.books_text ( id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
 	timestamp REAL NOT NULL,
 	format TEXT NOT NULL COLLATE NOCASE,
     format_hash TEXT NOT NULL COLLATE NOCASE,
-    format_size INTEGER NOT NULL,
+    format_size INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
     searchable_text TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT "",
-    text_size INTEGER NOT NULL,
-    text_hash TEXT NOT NULL COLLATE NOCASE,
+    text_size INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
+    text_hash TEXT NOT NULL COLLATE NOCASE DEFAULT "",
+    err_msg TEXT DEFAULT "",
     UNIQUE(book, format)
 );
 
diff --git a/src/calibre/db/fts/connect.py b/src/calibre/db/fts/connect.py
index 15d7c14990..b5cc8e29ca 100644
--- a/src/calibre/db/fts/connect.py
+++ b/src/calibre/db/fts/connect.py
@@ -67,11 +67,17 @@ class FTS:
         conn = self.get_connection()
         conn.execute('DELETE FROM fts_db.dirtied_formats WHERE book=? AND format=?', (book_id, fmt.upper()))
 
-    def add_text(self, book_id, fmt, text, text_hash='', fmt_size=0, fmt_hash=''):
+    def add_text(self, book_id, fmt, text, text_hash='', fmt_size=0, fmt_hash='', err_msg=''):
         conn = self.get_connection()
         ts = (utcnow() - EPOCH).total_seconds()
         fmt = fmt.upper()
-        if text:
+        if err_msg:
+            conn.execute(
+                'INSERT OR REPLACE INTO fts_db.books_text '
+                '(book, timestamp, format, format_size, format_hash, err_msg) VALUES '
+                '(?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)', (
+                    book_id, ts, fmt, fmt_size, fmt_hash, err_msg))
+        elif text:
             conn.execute(
                 'INSERT OR REPLACE INTO fts_db.books_text '
                 '(book, timestamp, format, format_size, format_hash, searchable_text, text_size, text_hash) VALUES '
@@ -94,7 +100,7 @@ class FTS:
             for x in conn.get('SELECT id FROM fts_db.books_text WHERE book=? AND format=? AND text_hash=?', (book_id, fmt, text_hash)):
                 text = ''
                 break
-        self.add_text(book_id, fmt, text, text_hash, fmt_size, fmt_hash)
+        self.add_text(book_id, fmt, text, text_hash, fmt_size, fmt_hash, err_msg)
 
     def queue_job(self, book_id, fmt, path, fmt_size, fmt_hash):
         conn = self.get_connection()
diff --git a/src/calibre/db/tests/fts_api.py b/src/calibre/db/tests/fts_api.py
index aa0439e5fa..1fc66abc31 100644
--- a/src/calibre/db/tests/fts_api.py
+++ b/src/calibre/db/tests/fts_api.py
@@ -7,8 +7,9 @@ import os
 import shutil
 import sys
 import time
-from io import BytesIO
+from io import BytesIO, StringIO
 from zipfile import ZipFile
+from unittest.mock import patch
 
 from calibre.db.fts.text import html_to_text
 from calibre.db.tests.base import BaseTest
@@ -87,8 +88,6 @@ class FTSAPITest(BaseTest):
         self.assertFalse(fts.pool.initialized)
 
         # TODO: check shutdown when worker hangs
-        # TODO: add a max scan time and check that the worker honors it
-        # TODO: Add a column to store failures with tracebacks in the books_text table
 
         # check enabling scans pre-exisintg
         cache = self.new_library()
@@ -100,6 +99,16 @@ class FTSAPITest(BaseTest):
         cache.add_format(1, 'TXTZ', self.make_txtz(b'a test text', extra='xxx'))
         self.wait_for_fts_to_finish(fts)
         check(id=1, book=1, format='TXTZ', searchable_text='a test text')
+
+        # check max_duration
+        for w in fts.pool.workers:
+            w.max_duration = -1
+        with patch('sys.stderr', new_callable=StringIO):
+            cache.add_format(1, 'TXTZ', self.make_txtz(b'a timed out text'))
+            self.wait_for_fts_to_finish(fts)
+            check(id=2, book=1, format='TXTZ', err_msg='Extracting text from the TXTZ file of size 132 B took too long')
+        for w in fts.pool.workers:
+            w.max_duration = w.__class__.max_duration
         cache.close()
 
     def test_fts_triggers(self):