diff --git a/ckanext/xloader/config_declaration.yaml b/ckanext/xloader/config_declaration.yaml
index 3327c84b..4b529839 100644
--- a/ckanext/xloader/config_declaration.yaml
+++ b/ckanext/xloader/config_declaration.yaml
@@ -187,3 +187,14 @@ groups:
           they will also display "complete", "active", "inactive", and "unknown".
         type: bool
         required: false
+      - key: ckanext.xloader.search_update_chunks
+        default: 100000
+        example: True
+        description: |
+          The number of rows to process in each batch when populating the full-text
+          search index. Chunked processing prevents database timeouts and memory
+          exhaustion when indexing very large datasets (4GB+ files with millions of rows).
+          Smaller values reduce memory usage but increase processing time. Larger values
+          improve performance but may cause timeouts on very large tables.
+        type: int
+        required: false
diff --git a/ckanext/xloader/loader.py b/ckanext/xloader/loader.py
index f45b579c..23f9ea09 100644
--- a/ckanext/xloader/loader.py
+++ b/ckanext/xloader/loader.py
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ def strip_white_space_iter():
 
     logger.info('Creating search index...')
     with engine.begin() as conn:
-        _populate_fulltext(conn, resource_id, fields=fields)
+        _populate_fulltext(conn, resource_id, fields=fields, logger=logger)
     logger.info('...search index created')
 
     return fields
@@ -659,30 +659,86 @@ def _enable_fulltext_trigger(connection, resource_id):
         .format(table=identifier(resource_id, True))))
 
 
-def _populate_fulltext(connection, resource_id, fields):
-    '''Populates the _full_text column. i.e. the same as datastore_run_triggers
-    but it runs in 1/9 of the time.
-
-    The downside is that it reimplements the code that calculates the text to
-    index, breaking DRY. And its annoying to pass in the column names.
-
-    fields: list of dicts giving the each column's 'id' (name) and 'type'
-            (text/numeric/timestamp)
+def _get_rows_count_of_resource(connection, table):
+    count_query = ''' SELECT count(_id) from {table} '''.format(table=table)
+    results = connection.execute(count_query)
+    rows_count = int(results.first()[0])
+    return rows_count
+
+
+def _populate_fulltext(connection, resource_id, fields, logger):
+    '''Populates the _full_text column for full-text search functionality.
+    
+    This function creates a PostgreSQL tsvector (text search vector) for each row
+    by concatenating all non-system columns. It's equivalent to datastore_run_triggers
+    but runs approximately 9x faster by using direct SQL updates.
+    
+    To handle very large datasets (e.g., 4GB+ files with millions of rows), the update
+    operation is partitioned into chunks to prevent:
+    - Database statement timeouts
+    - Memory exhaustion
+    - Lock contention that could block other operations
+    - Transaction log overflow
+    
+    The chunking mechanism processes rows in batches based on their _id values,
+    with chunk size configurable via 'ckanext.xloader.search_update_chunks' 
+    (default: 100,000 rows per chunk).
+    
+    Args:
+        connection: Database connection object
+        resource_id (str): The datastore table identifier
+        fields (list): List of dicts with column 'id' (name) and 'type' 
+                      (text/numeric/timestamp)
+        logger: Logger instance for progress tracking
+        
+    Note:
+        This reimplements CKAN's text indexing logic for performance,
+        breaking DRY principle but providing significant speed improvements.
     '''
-    stmt = sa.update(sa.table(resource_id, sa.column("_full_text"))).values(
-        _full_text=sa.text("to_tsvector({})".format(
-            " || ' ' || ".join(
-                'coalesce({}, \'\')'.format(
-                    identifier(field['id'])
-                    + ('::text' if field['type'] != 'text' else '')
-                )
-                for field in fields
-                if not field['id'].startswith('_')
-            )
-        ))
-    )
-
-    connection.execute(stmt)
+    try:
+        # Get total row count to determine chunking strategy
+        rows_count = _get_rows_count_of_resource(connection, identifier(resource_id))
+    except Exception as e:
+        rows_count = ''
+        logger.info("Failed to get resource rows count: {} ".format(str(e)))
+        raise
+        
+    if rows_count:
+        # Configure chunk size - prevents timeouts and memory issues on large datasets
+        # Default 100,000 rows per chunk balances performance vs. resource usage
+        chunks = int(config.get('ckanext.xloader.search_update_chunks', 100000))
+        
+        # Process table in chunks using _id range queries
+        # This approach ensures consistent chunk sizes and allows resuming if interrupted
+        for start in range(0, rows_count, chunks):
+            try:
+                # Build SQL to update _full_text column with concatenated searchable content
+                sql = \
+                    '''
+                    UPDATE {table}
+                    SET _full_text = to_tsvector({cols}) WHERE _id BETWEEN {first} and {end};
+                    '''.format(
+                        table=identifier(resource_id),
+                        # Concatenate all user columns (excluding system columns starting with '_')
+                        # coalesce() handles NULL values by converting them to empty strings
+                        cols=" || ' ' || ".join(
+                            'coalesce({}, \'\')'.format(
+                                identifier(field['id'])
+                                + ('::text' if field['type'] != 'text' else '')  # Cast non-text types
+                            )
+                            for field in fields
+                            if not field['id'].startswith('_')  # Skip system columns like _id, _full_text
+                        ),
+                        first=start,
+                        end=start + chunks
+                    )
+                connection.execute(sql)
+                logger.info("Indexed rows {first} to {end} of {total}".format(
+                    first=start, end=min(start + chunks, rows_count), total=rows_count))
+            except Exception as e:
+                # Log chunk-specific errors but continue processing remaining chunks
+                logger.error("Failed to index rows {first}-{end}: {error}".format(
+                    first=start, end=start + chunks, error=str(e)))
 
 
 def calculate_record_count(resource_id, logger):