diff --git a/beets/dbcore/db.py b/beets/dbcore/db.py
index 71810ead20..24c20ef1aa 100755
--- a/beets/dbcore/db.py
+++ b/beets/dbcore/db.py
@@ -524,7 +524,8 @@ class Results(object):
     """An item query result set. Iterating over the collection lazily
     constructs LibModel objects that reflect database rows.
     """
-    def __init__(self, model_class, rows, db, query=None, sort=None):
+    def __init__(self, model_class, rows, db, flex_rows,
+                 query=None, sort=None):
         """Create a result set that will construct objects of type
         `model_class`.
 
@@ -544,6 +545,7 @@ def __init__(self, model_class, rows, db, query=None, sort=None):
         self.db = db
         self.query = query
         self.sort = sort
+        self.flex_rows = flex_rows
 
         # We keep a queue of rows we haven't yet consumed for
         # materialization. We preserve the original total number of
@@ -565,6 +567,10 @@ def _get_objects(self):
         a `Results` object a second time should be much faster than the
         first.
         """
+
+        # Index flexible attributes by the item ID, so we have easier access
+        flex_attrs = self._get_indexed_flex_attrs()
+
         index = 0  # Position in the materialized objects.
         while index < len(self._objects) or self._rows:
             # Are there previously-materialized objects to produce?
@@ -577,7 +583,7 @@ def _get_objects(self):
             else:
                 while self._rows:
                     row = self._rows.pop(0)
-                    obj = self._make_model(row)
+                    obj = self._make_model(row, flex_attrs.get(row['id'], {}))
                     # If there is a slow-query predicate, ensurer that the
                     # object passes it.
                     if not self.query or self.query.match(obj):
@@ -599,20 +605,24 @@ def __iter__(self):
             # Objects are pre-sorted (i.e., by the database).
             return self._get_objects()
 
-    def _make_model(self, row):
-        # Get the flexible attributes for the object.
-        with self.db.transaction() as tx:
-            flex_rows = tx.query(
-                'SELECT * FROM {0} WHERE entity_id=?'.format(
-                    self.model_class._flex_table
-                ),
-                (row['id'],)
-            )
+    def _get_indexed_flex_attrs(self):
+        """ Index flexible attributes by the entity id they belong to
+        """
+        flex_values = dict()
+        for row in self.flex_rows:
+            if row['entity_id'] not in flex_values:
+                flex_values[row['entity_id']] = dict()
+
+            flex_values[row['entity_id']][row['key']] = row['value']
 
+        return flex_values
+
+    def _make_model(self, row, flex_values={}):
+        """ Create a Model object for the given row
+        """
         cols = dict(row)
         values = dict((k, v) for (k, v) in cols.items()
                       if not k[:4] == 'flex')
-        flex_values = dict((row['key'], row['value']) for row in flex_rows)
 
         # Construct the Python object
         obj = self.model_class._awaken(self.db, values, flex_values)
@@ -899,11 +909,25 @@ def _fetch(self, model_cls, query=None, sort=None):
             "ORDER BY {0}".format(order_by) if order_by else '',
         )
 
+        # Fetch flexible attributes for items matching the main query.
+        # Doing the per-item filtering in python is faster than issuing
+        # one query per item to sqlite.
+        flex_sql = ("""
+            SELECT * FROM {0} WHERE entity_id IN
+                (SELECT id FROM {1} WHERE {2});
+            """.format(
+                model_cls._flex_table,
+                model_cls._table,
+                where or '1',
+            )
+        )
+
         with self.transaction() as tx:
             rows = tx.query(sql, subvals)
+            flex_rows = tx.query(flex_sql, subvals)
 
         return Results(
-            model_cls, rows, self,
+            model_cls, rows, self, flex_rows,
             None if where else query,  # Slow query component.
             sort if sort.is_slow() else None,  # Slow sort component.
         )