diff --git a/db/migrate/20180327062911_add_post_custom_fields_akismet_index.rb b/db/migrate/20180327062911_add_post_custom_fields_akismet_index.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..66fb4a227c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20180327062911_add_post_custom_fields_akismet_index.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# This is our current pattern for data migrations needed by plugins, we prefer to keep them in core
+# so schema is tightly controlled, especially if we are amending tables owned by core
+#
+# this index makes looking up posts requiring review much faster (20ms on meta)
+
+class AddPostCustomFieldsAkismetIndex < ActiveRecord::Migration[5.1]
+  def change
+    add_index :post_custom_fields, [:post_id],
+      name: 'idx_post_custom_fields_akismet',
+      where: "name = 'AKISMET_STATE' AND value = 'needs_review'"
+  end
+end