diff --git a/docs/concepts/memory.md b/docs/concepts/memory.md
index 0cd667eda5..8b50051383 100644
--- a/docs/concepts/memory.md
+++ b/docs/concepts/memory.md
@@ -135,9 +135,10 @@ out to QMD for retrieval. Key points:
   blocked; set `memory.qmd.update.waitForBootSync = true` to keep the previous
   blocking behavior.
 - Searches run via `memory.qmd.searchMode` (default `qmd query --json`; also
-  supports `search` and `vsearch`). If QMD fails or the binary is missing,
-  OpenClaw automatically falls back to the builtin SQLite manager so memory tools
-  keep working.
+  supports `search` and `vsearch`). If the selected mode rejects flags on your
+  QMD build, OpenClaw retries with `qmd query`. If QMD fails or the binary is
+  missing, OpenClaw automatically falls back to the builtin SQLite manager so
+  memory tools keep working.
 - OpenClaw does not expose QMD embed batch-size tuning today; batch behavior is
   controlled by QMD itself.
 - **First search may be slow**: QMD may download local GGUF models (reranker/query
diff --git a/src/memory/qmd-manager.test.ts b/src/memory/qmd-manager.test.ts
index 81d13864de..fda4a8875d 100644
--- a/src/memory/qmd-manager.test.ts
+++ b/src/memory/qmd-manager.test.ts
@@ -295,13 +295,79 @@ describe("QmdMemoryManager", () => {
     if (!manager) {
       throw new Error("manager missing");
     }
+    const maxResults = resolved.qmd?.limits.maxResults;
+    if (!maxResults) {
+      throw new Error("qmd maxResults missing");
+    }
 
     await expect(
       manager.search("test", { sessionKey: "agent:main:slack:dm:u123" }),
     ).resolves.toEqual([]);
 
-    expect(spawnMock.mock.calls.some((call) => call[1]?.[0] === "search")).toBe(true);
+    const searchCall = spawnMock.mock.calls.find((call) => call[1]?.[0] === "search");
+    expect(searchCall?.[1]).toEqual(["search", "test", "--json"]);
     expect(spawnMock.mock.calls.some((call) => call[1]?.[0] === "query")).toBe(false);
+    expect(maxResults).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    await manager.close();
+  });
+
+  it("retries search with qmd query when configured mode rejects flags", async () => {
+    cfg = {
+      ...cfg,
+      memory: {
+        backend: "qmd",
+        qmd: {
+          includeDefaultMemory: false,
+          searchMode: "search",
+          update: { interval: "0s", debounceMs: 60_000, onBoot: false },
+          paths: [{ path: workspaceDir, pattern: "**/*.md", name: "workspace" }],
+        },
+      },
+    } as OpenClawConfig;
+    spawnMock.mockImplementation((_cmd: string, args: string[]) => {
+      if (args[0] === "search") {
+        const child = createMockChild({ autoClose: false });
+        setTimeout(() => {
+          child.stderr.emit("data", "unknown flag: --json");
+          child.closeWith(2);
+        }, 0);
+        return child;
+      }
+      if (args[0] === "query") {
+        const child = createMockChild({ autoClose: false });
+        setTimeout(() => {
+          child.stdout.emit("data", "[]");
+          child.closeWith(0);
+        }, 0);
+        return child;
+      }
+      return createMockChild();
+    });
+
+    const resolved = resolveMemoryBackendConfig({ cfg, agentId });
+    const manager = await QmdMemoryManager.create({ cfg, agentId, resolved });
+    expect(manager).toBeTruthy();
+    if (!manager) {
+      throw new Error("manager missing");
+    }
+    const maxResults = resolved.qmd?.limits.maxResults;
+    if (!maxResults) {
+      throw new Error("qmd maxResults missing");
+    }
+
+    await expect(
+      manager.search("test", { sessionKey: "agent:main:slack:dm:u123" }),
+    ).resolves.toEqual([]);
+
+    const searchAndQueryCalls = spawnMock.mock.calls
+      .map((call) => call[1])
+      .filter(
+        (args): args is string[] => Array.isArray(args) && ["search", "query"].includes(args[0]),
+      );
+    expect(searchAndQueryCalls).toEqual([
+      ["search", "test", "--json"],
+      ["query", "test", "--json", "-n", String(maxResults)],
+    ]);
     await manager.close();
   });
 
diff --git a/src/memory/qmd-manager.ts b/src/memory/qmd-manager.ts
index 2764a6aaaf..41331a3b0e 100644
--- a/src/memory/qmd-manager.ts
+++ b/src/memory/qmd-manager.ts
@@ -254,14 +254,29 @@ export class QmdMemoryManager implements MemorySearchManager {
       opts?.maxResults ?? this.qmd.limits.maxResults,
     );
     const qmdSearchCommand = this.qmd.searchMode;
-    const args = [qmdSearchCommand, trimmed, "--json", "-n", String(limit)];
+    const args = this.buildSearchArgs(qmdSearchCommand, trimmed, limit);
     let stdout: string;
     try {
       const result = await this.runQmd(args, { timeoutMs: this.qmd.limits.timeoutMs });
       stdout = result.stdout;
     } catch (err) {
-      log.warn(`qmd ${qmdSearchCommand} failed: ${String(err)}`);
-      throw err instanceof Error ? err : new Error(String(err));
+      if (qmdSearchCommand !== "query" && this.isUnsupportedQmdOptionError(err)) {
+        log.warn(
+          `qmd ${qmdSearchCommand} does not support configured flags; retrying search with qmd query`,
+        );
+        try {
+          const fallback = await this.runQmd(this.buildSearchArgs("query", trimmed, limit), {
+            timeoutMs: this.qmd.limits.timeoutMs,
+          });
+          stdout = fallback.stdout;
+        } catch (fallbackErr) {
+          log.warn(`qmd query fallback failed: ${String(fallbackErr)}`);
+          throw fallbackErr instanceof Error ? fallbackErr : new Error(String(fallbackErr));
+        }
+      } else {
+        log.warn(`qmd ${qmdSearchCommand} failed: ${String(err)}`);
+        throw err instanceof Error ? err : new Error(String(err));
+      }
     }
     let parsed: QmdQueryResult[] = [];
     try {
@@ -881,6 +896,18 @@ export class QmdMemoryManager implements MemorySearchManager {
     return normalized.includes("sqlite_busy") || normalized.includes("database is locked");
   }
 
+  private isUnsupportedQmdOptionError(err: unknown): boolean {
+    const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
+    const normalized = message.toLowerCase();
+    return (
+      normalized.includes("unknown flag") ||
+      normalized.includes("unknown option") ||
+      normalized.includes("unrecognized option") ||
+      normalized.includes("flag provided but not defined") ||
+      normalized.includes("unexpected argument")
+    );
+  }
+
   private createQmdBusyError(err: unknown): Error {
     const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
     return new Error(`qmd index busy while reading results: ${message}`);
@@ -896,4 +923,15 @@ export class QmdMemoryManager implements MemorySearchManager {
       new Promise<void>((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, SEARCH_PENDING_UPDATE_WAIT_MS)),
     ]);
   }
+
+  private buildSearchArgs(
+    command: "query" | "search" | "vsearch",
+    query: string,
+    limit: number,
+  ): string[] {
+    if (command === "query") {
+      return ["query", query, "--json", "-n", String(limit)];
+    }
+    return [command, query, "--json"];
+  }
 }