diff --git a/app/Console/Commands/InspectManticore.php b/app/Console/Commands/InspectManticore.php
index 667469645..1e7f2ad6c 100644
--- a/app/Console/Commands/InspectManticore.php
+++ b/app/Console/Commands/InspectManticore.php
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ final class InspectManticore extends Command
                 }
                 $actual = $client->table($table)->describe();
                 $comparison = ManticoreSchemaInspector::compareColumns(is_array($actual) ? $actual : [], $definition['columns']);
-                $actualSettings = $client->sql("SHOW TABLE {$table} SETTINGS", true);
-                $missingSettings = ManticoreSchemaInspector::missingSettings($actualSettings, $definition['settings']);
+                $actualSettings = $client->tables()->settings(['table' => $table]);
+                $missingSettings = ManticoreSchemaInspector::missingSettings($actualSettings, ManticoreIndexRegistry::inspectableSettings());
                 $needsRebuild = $comparison['missing'] !== [] || $comparison['incompatible'] !== [] || $missingSettings !== [];
                 $report['tables'][$table] = [...$comparison, 'missing_settings' => $missingSettings, 'needs_rebuild' => $needsRebuild];
                 $report['compatible'] = $report['compatible'] && ! $needsRebuild;
diff --git a/app/Services/Search/Support/ManticoreIndexRegistry.php b/app/Services/Search/Support/ManticoreIndexRegistry.php
index 9b89f5808..754c123ba 100644
--- a/app/Services/Search/Support/ManticoreIndexRegistry.php
+++ b/app/Services/Search/Support/ManticoreIndexRegistry.php
@@ -83,6 +83,14 @@ final class ManticoreIndexRegistry
         };
     }
 
+    /** @return array<string, int|string> */
+    public static function inspectableSettings(): array
+    {
+        // Manticore 28 omits defaults/no-op settings such as min_prefix_len=0
+        // and exact_words from SHOW TABLE ... SETTINGS / SHOW CREATE TABLE.
+        return ['min_infix_len' => 2, 'index_field_lengths' => 1];
+    }
+
     /** @param array<string, string> $configuredIndexes */
     public static function logicalName(string $table, array $configuredIndexes = []): ?string
     {
diff --git a/app/Services/Search/Support/ManticoreSchemaInspector.php b/app/Services/Search/Support/ManticoreSchemaInspector.php
index a99657eb1..93ffaadc2 100644
--- a/app/Services/Search/Support/ManticoreSchemaInspector.php
+++ b/app/Services/Search/Support/ManticoreSchemaInspector.php
@@ -12,24 +12,24 @@ final class ManticoreSchemaInspector
      */
     public static function missingSettings(mixed $actual, array $expected): array
     {
-        $encoded = strtolower((string) json_encode($actual));
+        $settings = self::normalizeSettings($actual);
 
-        return array_values(array_filter(array_keys($expected), static function (string $setting) use ($encoded, $expected): bool {
-            return ! str_contains($encoded, strtolower($setting))
-                || ! str_contains($encoded, strtolower((string) $expected[$setting]));
+        return array_values(array_filter(array_keys($expected), static function (string $setting) use ($settings, $expected): bool {
+            return ! array_key_exists(strtolower($setting), $settings)
+                || $settings[strtolower($setting)] !== strtolower((string) $expected[$setting]);
         }));
     }
 
     /**
-     * @param  array<int, array<string, mixed>>  $actual
+     * @param  array<int|string, array<string, mixed>>  $actual
      * @param  array<string, array<string, mixed>>  $expected
      * @return array{missing: list<string>, incompatible: array<string, array{expected: string, actual: string}>}
      */
     public static function compareColumns(array $actual, array $expected): array
     {
         $types = [];
-        foreach ($actual as $column) {
-            $name = (string) ($column['Field'] ?? $column['field'] ?? '');
+        foreach ($actual as $key => $column) {
+            $name = (string) ($column['Field'] ?? $column['field'] ?? (is_string($key) ? $key : ''));
             $type = strtolower((string) ($column['Type'] ?? $column['type'] ?? ''));
             if ($name !== '') {
                 $types[$name] = $type;
@@ -42,11 +42,67 @@ final class ManticoreSchemaInspector
             $expectedType = strtolower((string) $definition['type']);
             if (! isset($types[$name])) {
                 $missing[] = $name;
-            } elseif (! str_contains($types[$name], $expectedType)) {
+            } elseif (! self::typesAreCompatible($types[$name], $expectedType)) {
                 $incompatible[$name] = ['expected' => $expectedType, 'actual' => $types[$name]];
             }
         }
 
         return ['missing' => $missing, 'incompatible' => $incompatible];
     }
+
+    private static function typesAreCompatible(string $actual, string $expected): bool
+    {
+        if ($expected === 'integer') {
+            return str_contains($actual, 'integer') || str_contains($actual, 'uint');
+        }
+
+        return str_contains($actual, $expected);
+    }
+
+    /** @return array<string, string> */
+    private static function normalizeSettings(mixed $actual): array
+    {
+        if (! is_array($actual)) {
+            return [];
+        }
+
+        $settings = [];
+        foreach ($actual as $key => $value) {
+            if (is_string($key) && ! is_array($value)) {
+                if (strtolower($key) === 'settings' && is_string($value)) {
+                    foreach (preg_split('/\R/', $value) ?: [] as $line) {
+                        if (preg_match('/^\s*([a-z0-9_]+)\s*=\s*[\'\"]?([^\'\"]+?)[\'\"]?\s*$/i', $line, $match) === 1) {
+                            $settings[strtolower($match[1])] = strtolower(trim($match[2]));
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    continue;
+                }
+                $settings[strtolower($key)] = strtolower((string) $value);
+
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            if (! is_array($value)) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            $name = $value['Setting_name'] ?? $value['setting_name'] ?? $value['Variable_name'] ?? $value['variable_name'] ?? $value['Name'] ?? $value['name'] ?? null;
+            $settingValue = $value['Value'] ?? $value['value'] ?? null;
+            if (is_string($name) && $settingValue !== null) {
+                $settings[strtolower($name)] = strtolower((string) $settingValue);
+
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            if (is_string($key)) {
+                $nestedValue = $value['Value'] ?? $value['value'] ?? reset($value);
+                if (is_scalar($nestedValue)) {
+                    $settings[strtolower($key)] = strtolower((string) $nestedValue);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        return $settings;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Unit/ManticoreIndexRegistryTest.php b/tests/Unit/ManticoreIndexRegistryTest.php
index 9006f60ae..8440a71ff 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/ManticoreIndexRegistryTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/ManticoreIndexRegistryTest.php
@@ -56,6 +56,59 @@ final class ManticoreIndexRegistryTest extends TestCase
         self::assertSame('bigint', $result['incompatible']['passwordstatus']['expected']);
     }
 
+    #[Test]
+    public function it_accepts_the_php_clients_associative_describe_response(): void
+    {
+        $result = ManticoreSchemaInspector::compareColumns(
+            [
+                'passwordstatus' => ['Type' => 'bigint', 'Properties' => []],
+                'haspreview' => ['Type' => 'bigint', 'Properties' => []],
+            ],
+            ['passwordstatus' => ['type' => 'bigint'], 'haspreview' => ['type' => 'bigint']]
+        );
+
+        self::assertSame([], $result['missing']);
+        self::assertSame([], $result['incompatible']);
+    }
+
+    #[Test]
+    public function it_treats_manticore_uint_as_the_integer_schema_type(): void
+    {
+        $result = ManticoreSchemaInspector::compareColumns(
+            ['categories_id' => ['Type' => 'uint']],
+            ['categories_id' => ['type' => 'integer']]
+        );
+
+        self::assertSame([], $result['incompatible']);
+    }
+
+    #[Test]
+    public function it_compares_settings_by_name_and_value(): void
+    {
+        $actual = [
+            'min_infix_len' => ['Value' => '2'],
+            'exact_words' => ['Value' => '1'],
+            'index_field_lengths' => ['Value' => '1'],
+        ];
+
+        self::assertSame([], ManticoreSchemaInspector::missingSettings($actual, [
+            'min_infix_len' => 2,
+            'exact_words' => 1,
+            'index_field_lengths' => 1,
+        ]));
+    }
+
+    #[Test]
+    public function it_parses_manticore_28_bundled_settings_response(): void
+    {
+        $actual = ['settings' => "min_infix_len = 2\nindex_field_lengths = 1"];
+
+        self::assertSame([], ManticoreSchemaInspector::missingSettings(
+            $actual,
+            ManticoreIndexRegistry::inspectableSettings()
+        ));
+    }
+
     #[Test]
     public function benchmark_fixture_is_versioned_and_covers_every_table(): void
     {