diff --git a/Quicksilver/Code-QuickStepCore/QSObject_FileHandling.m b/Quicksilver/Code-QuickStepCore/QSObject_FileHandling.m
index 6b25b1451..972872aa7 100644
--- a/Quicksilver/Code-QuickStepCore/QSObject_FileHandling.m
+++ b/Quicksilver/Code-QuickStepCore/QSObject_FileHandling.m
@@ -694,7 +694,13 @@ - (id)initWithArray:(NSArray *)paths {
 	return self;
 }
 
+#define MAX_IMAGE_SCAN_SIZE 50 * 1024 * 1024 // 50MB
+
 - (void)loadAdditionalSearchContext {
+  if ([[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] boolForKey:kQSDisableExtractTextFromImages]) {
+    return;
+  }
+
   if (@available(macOS 10.15, *)) {
     
     // For images, use text recognition to extract any text and store as searchable context
@@ -709,45 +715,48 @@ - (void)loadAdditionalSearchContext {
       return;
     }
     
-    NSImage *image = [[NSImage alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:path];
-    if (!image) {
-      return;
-    }
+    NSURL *fileURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:path];
     
-    // Get the CGImage from NSImage
-    CGImageRef cgImage = [image CGImageForProposedRect:NULL context:NULL hints:nil];
-    if (!cgImage) {
+    if (!fileURL) {
       return;
     }
     
-    // Create a text recognition request
-    VNRecognizeTextRequest *request = [[VNRecognizeTextRequest alloc] initWithCompletionHandler:^(VNRequest *request, NSError *error) {
-      if (error) {
-        NSLog(@"Text recognition error: %@", error);
-        return;
-      }
-      
-      NSMutableString *recognizedText = [NSMutableString string];
-      for (VNRecognizedTextObservation *observation in request.results) {
-        VNRecognizedText *text = [[observation topCandidates:1] firstObject];
-        if (text) {
-          [recognizedText appendFormat:@" %@", text.string];
+    // skip extracting text for images over 20MB
+    NSNumber *fileSize = nil;
+    [fileURL getResourceValue:&fileSize forKey:NSURLFileSizeKey error:nil];
+    if ([fileSize unsignedLongLongValue] > MAX_IMAGE_SCAN_SIZE) return;
+    
+    __weak __typeof(self) weakSelf = self;
+    QSGCDAsync(^{
+      // Create a text recognition request
+      VNRecognizeTextRequest *request = [[VNRecognizeTextRequest alloc] initWithCompletionHandler:^(VNRequest *request, NSError *error) {
+        if (error) {
+          NSLog(@"Text recognition error: %@", error);
+          return;
         }
-      }
+        
+        NSMutableString *recognizedText = [NSMutableString string];
+        for (VNRecognizedTextObservation *observation in request.results) {
+          VNRecognizedText *text = [[observation topCandidates:1] firstObject];
+          if (text) {
+            [recognizedText appendFormat:@" %@", text.string];
+          }
+        }
+        
+        if ([recognizedText length] > 0) {
+          [weakSelf setObject:recognizedText forCache:kAdditionalSearchContext];
+        }
+      }];
+      
+      // Create an image request handler
+      VNImageRequestHandler *handler = [[VNImageRequestHandler alloc] initWithURL:fileURL options:@{}];
       
-      if ([recognizedText length] > 0) {
-        [self setObject:recognizedText forCache:kAdditionalSearchContext];
+      NSError *error = nil;
+      [handler performRequests:@[request] error:&error];
+      if (error) {
+        NSLog(@"Error performing text recognition: %@", error);
       }
-    }];
-    
-    // Create an image request handler
-    VNImageRequestHandler *handler = [[VNImageRequestHandler alloc] initWithCGImage:cgImage options:@{}];
-    
-    NSError *error = nil;
-    [handler performRequests:@[request] error:&error];
-    if (error) {
-      NSLog(@"Error performing text recognition: %@", error);
-    }
+    });
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/Quicksilver/Code-QuickStepCore/QSPreferenceKeys.h b/Quicksilver/Code-QuickStepCore/QSPreferenceKeys.h
index f6fb562ce..15c6d5c58 100644
--- a/Quicksilver/Code-QuickStepCore/QSPreferenceKeys.h
+++ b/Quicksilver/Code-QuickStepCore/QSPreferenceKeys.h
@@ -77,3 +77,6 @@ Following lines are no longer used in this project.
 
 // A boolean indicating whether the task viewer resizes automatically
 #define kQSResizeTaskViewerAutomatically @"QSResizeTaskViewerAutomatically"
+
+// A boolean indicating whether text from image extraction should be disabled or not
+#define kQSDisableExtractTextFromImages @"QSDisableExtractTextFromImages"
diff --git a/Quicksilver/Localized/en.lproj/QSAdvancedPrefPane.strings b/Quicksilver/Localized/en.lproj/QSAdvancedPrefPane.strings
index aaae83e8e..942c31171 100644
--- a/Quicksilver/Localized/en.lproj/QSAdvancedPrefPane.strings
+++ b/Quicksilver/Localized/en.lproj/QSAdvancedPrefPane.strings
@@ -28,3 +28,5 @@
 "QSHistoryMaxLength:title" = "Number of items in Quicksilver’s history";
 
 "QSCloseInterfaceOnSuccessfulDrop:title" = "Close the interface after a successful drag and drop";
+
+"QSDisableExtractTextFromImages:title" = "Disable text extraction from images (disables searching for text in images)";
diff --git a/Quicksilver/Resources/DefaultsMap.plist b/Quicksilver/Resources/DefaultsMap.plist
index 167c4cbb3..bfa7d50eb 100644
--- a/Quicksilver/Resources/DefaultsMap.plist
+++ b/Quicksilver/Resources/DefaultsMap.plist
@@ -142,5 +142,15 @@
 		<key>type</key>
 		<string>checkbox</string>
 	</dict>
+	<dict>
+		<key>category</key>
+		<string>Command</string>
+		<key>default</key>
+		<string>QSDisableExtractTextFromImages</string>
+		<key>title</key>
+		<string>Disable text extraction from images (disables searching for text in images)</string>
+		<key>type</key>
+		<string>checkbox</string>
+	</dict>
 </array>
 </plist>