diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/ConnectionTree.vue b/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/ConnectionTree.vue
index 0720c6dbe8..36932ed8bd 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/ConnectionTree.vue
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/ConnectionTree.vue
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import {
 } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarSearchTree";
 import { createSidebarLabelMatcher } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarSearch";
 import { collectSidebarRegexIndexScopes, resolveSidebarRemoteSearchQuery, resolveSidebarSearchDispatchMode } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarRegexSearchIndex";
+import { needsSidebarObjectGroupDiscovery } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarSearchDiscovery";
 import { createSidebarSearchExpansionState } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarSearchExpansionState";
 import { createSidebarSearchLoadingTracker } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarSearchLoadingTracker";
 import { isCancelSearchShortcut, isCopySidebarSelectionShortcut, isEditSidebarConnectionShortcut, isPasteSidebarSelectionShortcut, isViewTableDdlShortcut } from "@/lib/editor/keyboardShortcuts";
@@ -405,7 +406,7 @@ function collectExpandedObjectSearchTargets(node: TreeNode, tasks: SidebarSearch
     }
     return;
   }
-  if (refreshedNodeIds && isSidebarSearchContainer(node) && !node.children?.length && (!scheduledNodeIds || !scheduledNodeIds.has(node.id))) {
+  if (refreshedNodeIds && isSidebarSearchContainer(node) && needsSidebarObjectGroupDiscovery(node, searchableObjectGroupTypes) && (!scheduledNodeIds || !scheduledNodeIds.has(node.id))) {
     scheduledNodeIds?.add(node.id);
     const wasCollapsed = node.isExpanded !== true;
     searchExpansionState.markFiltered(node.id, wasCollapsed);
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/__tests__/ConnectionTree.collapsedSearch.spec.ts b/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/__tests__/ConnectionTree.collapsedSearch.spec.ts
index 31f054abd4..e26200e691 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/__tests__/ConnectionTree.collapsedSearch.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/__tests__/ConnectionTree.collapsedSearch.spec.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,11 @@ const source = readFileSync(new URL("../ConnectionTree.vue", import.meta.url), "
 describe("ConnectionTree global search loading", () => {
   it("discovers collapsed database and schema containers before searching object groups", () => {
     expect(source).toContain("function isSidebarSearchContainer(node: TreeNode)");
-    expect(source).toMatch(/isSidebarSearchContainer\(node\) && !node\.children\?\.length/);
+    // A collapsed database already holds the saved-SQL root, so it has children
+    // even when its object groups were never fetched; the search has to look for
+    // a searchable group instead of an empty child list.
+    expect(source).toMatch(/isSidebarSearchContainer\(node\) && needsSidebarObjectGroupDiscovery\(node, searchableObjectGroupTypes\)/);
+    expect(source).not.toMatch(/isSidebarSearchContainer\(node\) && !node\.children\?\.length/);
     expect(source).toContain("store.loadTreeNodeChildren(node, { force: true, expectedSidebarSearchQuery: store.sidebarSearchQuery })");
     expect(source).toContain("searchExpansionState.markFiltered(node.id, wasCollapsed)");
     expect(source).toMatch(/if \(refreshedNodeIds && node\.children\) \{[\s\S]*?searchableObjectGroupTypes\.has\(child\.type\)/);
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/__tests__/sidebarSearchDiscovery.spec.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/__tests__/sidebarSearchDiscovery.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2efb23313f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/__tests__/sidebarSearchDiscovery.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import type { TreeNode, TreeNodeType } from "@/types/database";
+import { needsSidebarObjectGroupDiscovery } from "@/lib/sidebar/sidebarSearchDiscovery";
+
+const objectGroupTypes: ReadonlySet<TreeNodeType> = new Set<TreeNodeType>(["group-tables", "group-views"]);
+
+function node(partial: Partial<TreeNode> & Pick<TreeNode, "id" | "type">): TreeNode {
+  return { label: partial.id, ...partial };
+}
+
+describe("needsSidebarObjectGroupDiscovery", () => {
+  it("asks for discovery while a container only holds its saved SQL root", () => {
+    // Reproduces #9174: the database node already has a child (the saved SQL
+    // root) before its object groups are fetched, so an empty-child check would
+    // skip it and its tables would never join the search.
+    const database = node({
+      id: "mysql/dbx",
+      type: "database",
+      connectionId: "c1",
+      database: "dbx",
+      children: [node({ id: "saved-sql-root", type: "saved-sql-root", connectionId: "c1", database: "dbx" })],
+    });
+    expect(needsSidebarObjectGroupDiscovery(database, objectGroupTypes)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("asks for discovery when the container has no children at all", () => {
+    const schema = node({ id: "pg/public", type: "schema", connectionId: "c1", database: "postgres" });
+    expect(needsSidebarObjectGroupDiscovery(schema, objectGroupTypes)).toBe(true);
+    expect(needsSidebarObjectGroupDiscovery({ ...schema, children: [] }, objectGroupTypes)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("stops asking once a searchable object group is loaded", () => {
+    const database = node({
+      id: "mysql/dbx",
+      type: "database",
+      connectionId: "c1",
+      database: "dbx",
+      children: [node({ id: "saved-sql-root", type: "saved-sql-root", connectionId: "c1", database: "dbx" }), node({ id: "group-views", type: "group-views", connectionId: "c1", database: "dbx" })],
+    });
+    expect(needsSidebarObjectGroupDiscovery(database, objectGroupTypes)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("ignores non-group children such as tables already listed under the container", () => {
+    const database = node({
+      id: "mysql/dbx",
+      type: "database",
+      connectionId: "c1",
+      database: "dbx",
+      children: [node({ id: "dbx.cells_probe", type: "table", connectionId: "c1", database: "dbx" }), node({ id: "user-admin", type: "user-admin" })],
+    });
+    expect(needsSidebarObjectGroupDiscovery(database, objectGroupTypes)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("ignores object groups owned by another connection", () => {
+    const database = node({
+      id: "mysql/dbx",
+      type: "database",
+      connectionId: "c1",
+      database: "dbx",
+      children: [node({ id: "group-tables", type: "group-tables" })],
+    });
+    expect(needsSidebarObjectGroupDiscovery(database, objectGroupTypes)).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarSearchDiscovery.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarSearchDiscovery.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4d0f3ee980
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/sidebar/sidebarSearchDiscovery.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import type { TreeNode, TreeNodeType } from "@/types/database";
+
+/**
+ * Whether a sidebar search still has to fetch a container's on-demand object
+ * groups before it can look for matches below it.
+ *
+ * A collapsed container is not necessarily childless: every database keeps its
+ * saved-SQL root (`tree.queries`) as a child even before the object groups are
+ * fetched, so "no children" is not a reliable discovery signal. Checking for a
+ * searchable group instead keeps databases whose groups were never loaded out
+ * of the search, which made a table that exists in several databases appear
+ * under only one of them.
+ */
+export function needsSidebarObjectGroupDiscovery(node: TreeNode, objectGroupTypes: ReadonlySet<TreeNodeType>): boolean {
+  return !node.children?.some((child) => child.connectionId != null && objectGroupTypes.has(child.type));
+}