diff --git a/src/nominatim_api/server/falcon/server.py b/src/nominatim_api/server/falcon/server.py
index e252e3c8..13e79311 100644
--- a/src/nominatim_api/server/falcon/server.py
+++ b/src/nominatim_api/server/falcon/server.py
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ class APIMiddleware:
         assert self.app is not None
         legacy_urls = self.api.config.get_bool('SERVE_LEGACY_URLS')
         formatter = load_format_dispatcher('v1', self.api.config.project_dir)
-        for name, func in api_impl.ROUTES:
+        for name, func in await api_impl.get_routes(self.api):
             endpoint = EndpointWrapper(name, func, self.api, formatter)
             self.app.add_route(f"/{name}", endpoint)
             if legacy_urls:
diff --git a/src/nominatim_api/server/starlette/server.py b/src/nominatim_api/server/starlette/server.py
index 9d014920..e6c97693 100644
--- a/src/nominatim_api/server/starlette/server.py
+++ b/src/nominatim_api/server/starlette/server.py
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@
 """
 Server implementation using the starlette webserver framework.
 """
-from typing import Any, Optional, Mapping, Callable, cast, Coroutine, Dict, Awaitable
+from typing import Any, Optional, Mapping, Callable, cast, Coroutine, Dict, \
+                   Awaitable, AsyncIterator
 from pathlib import Path
 import datetime as dt
 import asyncio
@@ -150,12 +151,12 @@ def get_application(project_dir: Path,
     }
 
     @contextlib.asynccontextmanager
-    async def lifespan(app: Starlette) -> None:
+    async def lifespan(app: Starlette) -> AsyncIterator[Any]:
         app.state.API = NominatimAPIAsync(project_dir, environ)
         config = app.state.API.config
 
         legacy_urls = config.get_bool('SERVE_LEGACY_URLS')
-        for name, func in api_impl.ROUTES:
+        for name, func in await api_impl.get_routes(app.state.API):
             endpoint = _wrap_endpoint(func)
             app.routes.append(Route(f"/{name}", endpoint=endpoint))
             if legacy_urls:
diff --git a/src/nominatim_api/v1/__init__.py b/src/nominatim_api/v1/__init__.py
index f49de2a2..2304994f 100644
--- a/src/nominatim_api/v1/__init__.py
+++ b/src/nominatim_api/v1/__init__.py
@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@
 Implementation of API version v1 (aka the legacy version).
 """
 
-from .server_glue import ROUTES as ROUTES
+from .server_glue import get_routes as get_routes
diff --git a/src/nominatim_api/v1/server_glue.py b/src/nominatim_api/v1/server_glue.py
index ee502d8b..a6450bf2 100644
--- a/src/nominatim_api/v1/server_glue.py
+++ b/src/nominatim_api/v1/server_glue.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 Generic part of the server implementation of the v1 API.
 Combine with the scaffolding provided for the various Python ASGI frameworks.
 """
-from typing import Optional, Any, Type, Dict, cast
+from typing import Optional, Any, Type, Dict, cast, Sequence, Tuple
 from functools import reduce
 import dataclasses
 from urllib.parse import urlencode
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ from ..results import DetailedResult, ReverseResults, SearchResult, SearchResult
 from ..localization import Locales
 from . import helpers
 from ..server import content_types as ct
-from ..server.asgi_adaptor import ASGIAdaptor
+from ..server.asgi_adaptor import ASGIAdaptor, EndpointFunc
+from ..sql.async_core_library import PGCORE_ERROR
 
 
 def build_response(adaptor: ASGIAdaptor, output: str, status: int = 200,
@@ -417,12 +418,25 @@ async def polygons_endpoint(api: NominatimAPIAsync, params: ASGIAdaptor) -> Any:
     return build_response(params, params.formatting().format_result(results, fmt, {}))
 
 
-ROUTES = [
-    ('status', status_endpoint),
-    ('details', details_endpoint),
-    ('reverse', reverse_endpoint),
-    ('lookup', lookup_endpoint),
-    ('search', search_endpoint),
-    ('deletable', deletable_endpoint),
-    ('polygons', polygons_endpoint),
-]
+async def get_routes(api: NominatimAPIAsync) -> Sequence[Tuple[str, EndpointFunc]]:
+    routes = [
+        ('status', status_endpoint),
+        ('details', details_endpoint),
+        ('reverse', reverse_endpoint),
+        ('lookup', lookup_endpoint),
+        ('deletable', deletable_endpoint),
+        ('polygons', polygons_endpoint),
+    ]
+
+    def has_search_name(conn: sa.engine.Connection) -> bool:
+        insp = sa.inspect(conn)
+        return insp.has_table('search_name')
+
+    try:
+        async with api.begin() as conn:
+            if await conn.connection.run_sync(has_search_name):
+                routes.append(('search', search_endpoint))
+    except (PGCORE_ERROR, sa.exc.OperationalError):
+        pass  # ignored
+
+    return routes