diff --git a/bin/xbps-query/ownedby.c b/bin/xbps-query/ownedby.c
index 6e582271..b48ced83 100644
--- a/bin/xbps-query/ownedby.c
+++ b/bin/xbps-query/ownedby.c
@@ -201,9 +201,13 @@ int
 repo_ownedby(struct xbps_handle *xhp, int npatterns, char **patterns)
 {
 	struct ffdata ffd;
+	int rv;
 
 	ffd.npatterns = npatterns;
 	ffd.patterns = patterns;
 
+	if ((rv = xbps_rpool_sync(xhp, XBPS_PKGINDEX_FILES, NULL)) != 0)
+		return rv;
+
 	return xbps_rpool_foreach(xhp, repo_ownedby_cb, &ffd);
 }