diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 304d1b464..087683a84 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ which is a sequence of string.
 ### Fixes
 - All `HistoryResponse` messages are now auto-paginated to a maximum of 100 messages per response
 - Increased maximum length for reading from a libp2p input stream to allow largest possible protocol messages, including `HistoryResponse` messages at max size.
+- Significantly improved store node query performance
 - Added GossipSub `MessageIdProvider` for `11/WAKU2-RELAY` messages.
 
 ## 2021-11-05 v0.6
diff --git a/waku/v2/protocol/waku_store/waku_store.nim b/waku/v2/protocol/waku_store/waku_store.nim
index ed607f67f..ecbab596c 100644
--- a/waku/v2/protocol/waku_store/waku_store.nim
+++ b/waku/v2/protocol/waku_store/waku_store.nim
@@ -278,8 +278,9 @@ proc findIndex*(msgList: seq[IndexedWakuMessage], index: Index): Option[int] =
       return some(i)
   return none(int)
 
-proc paginate*(list: seq[IndexedWakuMessage], pinfo: PagingInfo): (seq[IndexedWakuMessage], PagingInfo, HistoryResponseError) =
-  ## takes list, and performs paging based on pinfo 
+proc paginate*(msgList: seq[IndexedWakuMessage], pinfo: PagingInfo): (seq[IndexedWakuMessage], PagingInfo, HistoryResponseError) =
+  ## takes a message list, and performs paging based on pinfo
+  ## the message list must be sorted
   ## returns the page i.e, a sequence of IndexedWakuMessage and the new paging info to be used for the next paging request
   var
     cursor = pinfo.cursor
@@ -287,8 +288,8 @@ proc paginate*(list: seq[IndexedWakuMessage], pinfo: PagingInfo): (seq[IndexedWa
     dir = pinfo.direction
     output: (seq[IndexedWakuMessage], PagingInfo, HistoryResponseError) 
 
-  if list.len == 0: # no pagination is needed for an empty list
-    output = (list, PagingInfo(pageSize: 0, cursor:pinfo.cursor, direction: pinfo.direction), HistoryResponseError.NONE)
+  if msgList.len == 0: # no pagination is needed for an empty list
+    output = (msgList, PagingInfo(pageSize: 0, cursor:pinfo.cursor, direction: pinfo.direction), HistoryResponseError.NONE)
     return output
   
   ## Adjust pageSize:
@@ -298,28 +299,26 @@ proc paginate*(list: seq[IndexedWakuMessage], pinfo: PagingInfo): (seq[IndexedWa
   if (pageSize == uint64(0)) or (pageSize > MaxPageSize):
     pageSize = MaxPageSize
 
-  # sort the existing messages
-  var 
-    msgList = list # makes a copy of the list
-    total = uint64(msgList.len)
-  # sorts msgList based on the custom comparison proc indexedWakuMessageComparison
-  msgList.sort(indexedWakuMessageComparison)
+  let total = uint64(msgList.len)
   
   # set the cursor of the initial paging request
   var isInitialQuery = false
+  var cursorIndex: uint64
   if cursor == Index(): # an empty cursor means it is an initial query
     isInitialQuery = true
     case dir
-      of PagingDirection.FORWARD: 
-        cursor = msgList[0].index # set the cursor to the beginning of the list
-      of PagingDirection.BACKWARD: 
-        cursor = msgList[list.len - 1].index # set the cursor to the end of the list
-    
-  var cursorIndexOption = msgList.findIndex(cursor) 
-  if cursorIndexOption.isNone: # the cursor is not valid
-    output = (@[], PagingInfo(pageSize: 0, cursor:pinfo.cursor, direction: pinfo.direction), HistoryResponseError.INVALID_CURSOR)
-    return output
-  var cursorIndex = uint64(cursorIndexOption.get()) 
+      of PagingDirection.FORWARD:
+        cursorIndex = 0 
+        cursor = msgList[cursorIndex].index # set the cursor to the beginning of the list
+      of PagingDirection.BACKWARD:
+        cursorIndex =  total - 1
+        cursor = msgList[cursorIndex].index # set the cursor to the end of the list
+  else:
+    var cursorIndexOption = msgList.findIndex(cursor) 
+    if cursorIndexOption.isNone: # the cursor is not valid
+      output = (@[], PagingInfo(pageSize: 0, cursor:pinfo.cursor, direction: pinfo.direction), HistoryResponseError.INVALID_CURSOR)
+      return output
+    cursorIndex = uint64(cursorIndexOption.get()) 
     
   case dir
     of PagingDirection.FORWARD: # forward pagination
@@ -374,42 +373,57 @@ proc paginate*(list: seq[IndexedWakuMessage], pinfo: PagingInfo): (seq[IndexedWa
 
 
 proc findMessages(w: WakuStore, query: HistoryQuery): HistoryResponse =
-  var data : seq[IndexedWakuMessage] = w.messages.allItems()
-
-  # filter based on content filters
-  # an empty list of contentFilters means no content filter is requested
-  if ((query.contentFilters).len != 0):
-    # matchedMessages holds IndexedWakuMessage whose content topics match the queried Content filters
-    var matchedMessages : seq[IndexedWakuMessage] = @[]
-    for filter in query.contentFilters:
-      var matched = w.messages.filterIt(it.msg.contentTopic  == filter.contentTopic)  
-      matchedMessages.add(matched)
-    # remove duplicates 
-    # duplicates may exist if two content filters target the same content topic, then the matched message gets added more than once
-    data = matchedMessages.deduplicate()
-
-  # filter based on pubsub topic
-  # an empty pubsub topic means no pubsub topic filter is requested
-  if ((query.pubsubTopic).len != 0):
-    data = data.filterIt(it.pubsubTopic == query.pubsubTopic)
-
-  # temporal filtering   
-  # check whether the history query contains a time filter
-  if (query.endTime != float64(0) and query.startTime != float64(0)):
-    # for a valid time query, select messages whose sender generated timestamps fall bw the queried start time and end time
-    data = data.filterIt(it.msg.timestamp <= query.endTime and it.msg.timestamp >= query.startTime)
-
+  ## Extract query criteria
+  ## All query criteria are optional
+  let
+    qContentTopics = if (query.contentFilters.len != 0): some(query.contentFilters.mapIt(it.contentTopic))
+                     else: none(seq[ContentTopic])
+    qPubSubTopic = if (query.pubsubTopic != ""): some(query.pubsubTopic)
+                   else: none(string)
+    qStartTime = if query.startTime != float64(0): some(query.startTime)
+                 else: none(float64)
+    qEndTime = if query.endTime != float64(0): some(query.endTime)
+               else: none(float64)
   
-  # perform pagination
-  var (indexedWakuMsgList, updatedPagingInfo, error) = paginate(data, query.pagingInfo)
+  ## Compose filter predicate for message from query criteria
+  proc matchesQuery(indMsg: IndexedWakuMessage): bool =
+    if qPubSubTopic.isSome():
+      # filter on pubsub topic
+      if indMsg.pubsubTopic != qPubSubTopic.get():
+        return false
+    
+    if qStartTime.isSome() and qEndTime.isSome():
+      # temporal filtering
+      # select only messages whose sender generated timestamps fall bw the queried start time and end time
+      if indMsg.msg.timestamp > qEndTime.get() or indMsg.msg.timestamp < qStartTime.get():
+        return false
+    
+    if qContentTopics.isSome():
+      # filter on content
+      if indMsg.msg.contentTopic notin qContentTopics.get():
+        return false
+    
+    return true
 
-  # extract waku messages
-  var wakuMsgList = indexedWakuMsgList.mapIt(it.msg)
+  ## Filter history using predicate and sort on indexedWakuMessageComparison 
+  ## TODO: since MaxPageSize is likely much smaller than w.messages.len,
+  ## we could optimise here by only filtering a portion of w.messages,
+  ## and repeat until we have populated a full page.
+  ## TODO: we can gain a lot by rather sorting on insert. Perhaps use a nim-stew
+  ## sorted set?
+  let filteredMsgs = w.messages.filterIt(it.matchesQuery)
+                               .sorted(indexedWakuMessageComparison)
+  
+  ## Paginate the filtered messages
+  let (indexedWakuMsgList, updatedPagingInfo, error) = paginate(filteredMsgs, query.pagingInfo)
 
-  let historyRes = HistoryResponse(messages: wakuMsgList, pagingInfo: updatedPagingInfo, error: error)
+  ## Extract and return response
+  let
+    wakuMsgList = indexedWakuMsgList.mapIt(it.msg)
+    historyRes = HistoryResponse(messages: wakuMsgList, pagingInfo: updatedPagingInfo, error: error)
+  
   return historyRes
 
-
 proc init*(ws: WakuStore, capacity = DefaultStoreCapacity) =
 
   proc handler(conn: Connection, proto: string) {.async.} =