diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5e6b54c72..b637b12fc 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ and this project adheres to
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Added
+
+- ⚡️(backend) add UPPER(email) index for case-insensitive user lookups
+
 ## [1.35.0] - 2026-10-13
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/src/backend/core/migrations/0027_user_email_upper_idx.py b/src/backend/core/migrations/0027_user_email_upper_idx.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a17416de5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/backend/core/migrations/0027_user_email_upper_idx.py
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.2.14 on 2026-10-07 18:45
+
+from django.contrib.postgres.operations import AddIndexConcurrently
+from django.db import migrations, models
+from django.db.models.functions import Upper
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+    atomic = False
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('core', '0026_alter_application_scopes'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        AddIndexConcurrently(
+            model_name="user",
+            index=models.Index(
+                Upper("email"),
+                name="user_email_upper_idx",
+            ),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/src/backend/core/models.py b/src/backend/core/models.py
index bcf6092b7..0cd48d8b8 100644
--- a/src/backend/core/models.py
+++ b/src/backend/core/models.py
@@ -246,6 +246,9 @@ class User(AbstractBaseUser, BaseModel, auth_models.PermissionsMixin):
                 name="unique_email_when_sub_is_null",
             )
         ]
+        indexes = [
+            models.Index(models.functions.Upper("email"), name="user_email_upper_idx"),
+        ]
 
     def __str__(self):
         return self.email or self.admin_email or str(self.id)