diff --git a/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt b/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
index ce67ebe41..7ffdeaa0e 100644
--- a/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
+++ b/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
     http://www.plainblack.com/bugs/tracker/asset-tree-cut-and-paste-not-handled-by-search
  - fix: Fixed a bug where calendars would generate corrupt iCal feed urls
    (Martin Kamerbeek / Oqapi)
+ - fix: Make search indexing work on Windows and made indexing safer overall.
  - fix: Too many directories in RSS cache (Martin Kamerbeek / Oqapi)
     http://www.plainblack.com/bugs/tracker/too-many-directories-in-rss-cache
  - fix: Help link broken for navigation template (perlDreamer Consulting, LLC)
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/Search/Index.pm b/lib/WebGUI/Search/Index.pm
index a2933aa31..661b867a3 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/Search/Index.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/Search/Index.pm
@@ -48,14 +48,21 @@ The path to the filename to index, including the filename.
 =cut
 
 sub addFile {
-	my $self = shift;
-	my $path = shift;
-	$path =~ m/\.(\w+)$/; 
-	my $type = lc($1);
-	my $filters = $self->session->config->get("searchIndexerPlugins");
-	my $filter = $filters->{$type};
-	my $content = `$filter $path`;
-	$self->addKeywords($content) if (!$content =~ m/^\s*$/);
+    my $self = shift;
+    my $path = shift;
+    my $filters = $self->session->config->get("searchIndexerPlugins");
+    my $content;
+    if ($path =~ m/\.(\w+)$/) {
+        my $type = lc($1);
+        if ($filters->{$type}) {
+            open my $fh, "$filters->{$type} $path |" or return; # open pipe to filter
+            $content = do { local $/; <$fh> };  # slurp file
+            close $fh;
+        }
+    }
+    return $self->addKeywords($content)
+        if $content =~ m/\S/; # only index if we fine non-whitespace
+    return;
 }