diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ca6053b9..409eb4ce 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Fixed
+- `mex graph` now fails with an actionable message naming the running Node version when the built-in `node:sqlite` module lacks FTS5 support, instead of surfacing SQLite's raw `no such module: fts5` on the first schema statement that needs it. FTS5 availability is not guaranteed by every Node build/version inside the documented `engines` range (#110).
+
 ## [0.8.0] - 2026-09-02
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/src/graph/__tests__/database-fts5.test.ts b/src/graph/__tests__/database-fts5.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..56b4f7c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/graph/__tests__/database-fts5.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { assertFts5Available, openGraphDatabase } from "../db/database.js";
+import type { SqliteDatabase } from "../db/sqlite.js";
+
+const roots: string[] = [];
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  for (const root of roots.splice(0)) rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  vi.doUnmock("../db/sqlite.js");
+});
+
+/** Minimal SqliteDatabase fake: only `exec` is exercised by assertFts5Available. */
+function fakeDb(execImpl: (sql: string) => void): SqliteDatabase {
+  return {
+    prepare: () => {
+      throw new Error("not used by this test");
+    },
+    exec: execImpl,
+    pragma: () => {},
+    transaction: (fn) => fn(),
+    close: () => {},
+    open: true,
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Load a fresh `database.js` whose `assertFts5Available` probes against
+ * `fakeExec` instead of a real `:memory:` connection, by mocking the
+ * `openSqlite` it imports from `sqlite.js`. `assertFts5Available` no longer
+ * takes a `SqliteDatabase` parameter (PR #168 review: it must not touch the
+ * caller's real graph database) — it opens its own throwaway connection
+ * internally, so exercising the error paths now goes through this module
+ * mock rather than an injected fake.
+ */
+async function assertFts5AvailableWith(fakeExec: (sql: string) => void) {
+  vi.resetModules();
+  vi.doMock("../db/sqlite.js", () => ({
+    openSqlite: () => fakeDb(fakeExec),
+  }));
+  const fresh = await import("../db/database.js");
+  return fresh.assertFts5Available;
+}
+
+describe("assertFts5Available", () => {
+  it("does not throw when FTS5 statements succeed", () => {
+    // node:sqlite is compiled with FTS5 in every environment these tests run
+    // in (see sqlite.ts's module comment), so this exercises the real probe
+    // against a real throwaway :memory: connection end to end.
+    expect(() => assertFts5Available()).not.toThrow();
+  });
+
+  it("raises an actionable, Node-version-specific message on the exact SQLite error from issue #110", async () => {
+    const probe = await assertFts5AvailableWith(() => {
+      throw new Error("no such module: fts5");
+    });
+
+    expect(() => probe()).toThrowError(
+      new RegExp(`Node \\(${process.version.replace(/[.+]/g, "\\$&")}\\).*FTS5.*no such module: fts5`, "s"),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("re-throws an unrelated exec failure unchanged, rather than misattributing it to FTS5", async () => {
+    const probe = await assertFts5AvailableWith(() => {
+      throw new Error("database is locked");
+    });
+
+    expect(() => probe()).toThrowError("database is locked");
+    expect(() => probe()).not.toThrow(/FTS5/);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("openGraphDatabase FTS5 preflight", () => {
+  it("still opens normally on a machine whose SQLite build has FTS5 (the common case)", () => {
+    const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "mex-database-fts5-"));
+    roots.push(root);
+
+    const db = openGraphDatabase(join(root, "graph.db"));
+    try {
+      // exercised implicitly by openGraphDatabase not throwing; assert the FTS5
+      // tables schema.sql defines actually exist, confirming the preflight probe
+      // did not somehow prevent or corrupt the real schema application
+      const tables = db
+        .prepare("SELECT name FROM sqlite_master WHERE type = 'table' AND name LIKE '%_fts%'")
+        .all() as Array<{ name: string }>;
+      expect(tables.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    } finally {
+      db.close();
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("closes the database handle when the FTS5 preflight fails, instead of leaking it open", async () => {
+    const root = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "mex-database-fts5-close-"));
+    roots.push(root);
+
+    vi.resetModules();
+    vi.doMock("../db/sqlite.js", async () => {
+      const actual = await vi.importActual<typeof import("../db/sqlite.js")>("../db/sqlite.js");
+      let realGraphDb: SqliteDatabase | undefined;
+      return {
+        ...actual,
+        openSqlite: (path: string, options?: { readOnly?: boolean; immutable?: boolean }) => {
+          if (path === ":memory:") {
+            // The FTS5 preflight's own throwaway connection: fail it.
+            return {
+              prepare: () => {
+                throw new Error("not used by this test");
+              },
+              exec: () => {
+                throw new Error("no such module: fts5");
+              },
+              pragma: () => {},
+              transaction: <T>(fn: () => T) => fn(),
+              close: () => {},
+              open: true,
+            } satisfies SqliteDatabase;
+          }
+          realGraphDb = actual.openSqlite(path, options);
+          return realGraphDb;
+        },
+        __getRealGraphDb: () => realGraphDb,
+      };
+    });
+
+    const fresh = await import("../db/database.js");
+    const sqliteMock = (await import("../db/sqlite.js")) as unknown as {
+      __getRealGraphDb: () => SqliteDatabase | undefined;
+    };
+
+    expect(() => fresh.openGraphDatabase(join(root, "graph.db"))).toThrow(/FTS5/);
+    expect(sqliteMock.__getRealGraphDb()?.open).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/graph/db/database.ts b/src/graph/db/database.ts
index 6e62fbea..7c51114e 100644
--- a/src/graph/db/database.ts
+++ b/src/graph/db/database.ts
@@ -57,6 +57,42 @@ function configureReadOnlyConnection(db: SqliteDatabase): void {
   db.pragma("query_only = ON");
 }
 
+/**
+ * Probe for FTS5 support and fail fast with an actionable message if it's missing.
+ *
+ * `node:sqlite`'s bundled SQLite is not guaranteed to be built with FTS5 on every
+ * Node build/version, even within the range `package.json`'s `engines` documents
+ * as supported (issue #110). Without this check, the first FTS5 statement in
+ * `schema.sql` throws SQLite's raw `no such module: fts5`, which reads like a mex
+ * bug rather than a Node/SQLite build limitation. Create-and-drop a throwaway
+ * virtual table rather than querying `pragma_module_list`, since that pragma is
+ * unavailable on some `node:sqlite` builds too and FTS5 usage is what actually
+ * needs to work.
+ *
+ * FTS5 availability is a property of the SQLite build the running Node binary
+ * embeds, not of any particular database file, so the probe runs against a
+ * throwaway `:memory:` connection rather than the caller's real database.
+ * Probing in place (an earlier version of this function took the caller's
+ * `SqliteDatabase`) rewrote the on-disk graph on every successful open, which
+ * broke a read-path non-mutation regression test in CI (PR #168 review).
+ */
+export function assertFts5Available(): void {
+  const probe = openSqlite(":memory:");
+  try {
+    probe.exec("CREATE VIRTUAL TABLE __mex_fts5_probe USING fts5(x)");
+  } catch (error) {
+    const msg = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);
+    if (!/fts5/i.test(msg)) throw error; // a different problem; surface it unchanged
+    throw new Error(
+      `Your Node (${process.version}) has SQLite built without FTS5 support, which mex's code graph ` +
+        "requires. Try a different Node build/version - see COMPATIBILITY.md for which versions are " +
+        `known to work. Underlying error: ${msg}`,
+    );
+  } finally {
+    probe.close();
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Open the graph DB at `dbPath`, creating the file + parent dir and applying the
  * schema when absent. Idempotent: re-opening an existing DB re-applies PRAGMAs
@@ -84,6 +120,7 @@ export function openGraphDatabase(
   configureConnection(db);
 
   try {
+    assertFts5Available();
     initializeWritableGraphDatabase(db, readFileSync(schemaPath(), "utf-8"), options);
     return db;
   } catch (error) {