diff --git a/src/ranked_match.cc b/src/ranked_match.cc
index 91bd57d3..11c58045 100644
--- a/src/ranked_match.cc
+++ b/src/ranked_match.cc
@@ -6,6 +6,30 @@
 namespace Kakoune
 {
 
+UsedLetters used_letters(StringView str)
+{
+    UsedLetters res = 0;
+    for (auto c : str)
+    {
+        if (c >= 'a' and c <= 'z')
+            res |= 1uL << (c - 'a');
+        else if (c >= 'A' and c <= 'Z')
+            res |= 1uL << (c - 'A' + 26);
+        else if (c == '_')
+            res |= 1uL << 53;
+        else if (c == '-')
+            res |= 1uL << 54;
+        else
+            res |= 1uL << 63;
+    }
+    return res;
+}
+
+bool matches(UsedLetters query, UsedLetters letters)
+{
+    return (query & letters) == query;
+}
+
 using Utf8It = utf8::iterator<const char*>;
 
 static int count_word_boundaries_match(StringView candidate, StringView query)
@@ -68,26 +92,36 @@ static bool subsequence_match_smart_case(StringView str, StringView subseq, int&
     return true;
 }
 
-RankedMatch::RankedMatch(StringView candidate, StringView query)
+template<typename TestFunc>
+RankedMatch::RankedMatch(StringView candidate, StringView query, TestFunc func)
 {
     if (candidate.empty() or query.length() > candidate.length())
         return;
 
     if (query.empty())
+        m_candidate = candidate;
+    else if (func() and  subsequence_match_smart_case(candidate, query, m_match_index_sum))
     {
         m_candidate = candidate;
-        return;
+
+        m_first_char_match = smartcase_eq(query[0], candidate[0]);
+        m_word_boundary_match_count = count_word_boundaries_match(candidate, query);
+        m_only_word_boundary = m_word_boundary_match_count == query.length();
+        m_prefix = std::equal(query.begin(), query.end(), candidate.begin(), smartcase_eq);
     }
+}
 
-    if (not subsequence_match_smart_case(candidate, query, m_match_index_sum))
-        return;
+RankedMatch::RankedMatch(StringView candidate, UsedLetters candidate_letters,
+                         StringView query, UsedLetters query_letters)
+    : RankedMatch{candidate, query, [&] {
+        return matches(to_lower(query_letters), to_lower(candidate_letters)) and
+               matches(query_letters & upper_mask, candidate_letters & upper_mask);
+    }} {}
 
-    m_candidate = candidate;
 
-    m_first_char_match = smartcase_eq(query[0], candidate[0]);
-    m_word_boundary_match_count = count_word_boundaries_match(candidate, query);
-    m_only_word_boundary = m_word_boundary_match_count == query.length();
-    m_prefix = std::equal(query.begin(), query.end(), candidate.begin(), smartcase_eq);
+RankedMatch::RankedMatch(StringView candidate, StringView query)
+    : RankedMatch{candidate, query, [] { return true; }}
+{
 }
 
 bool RankedMatch::operator<(const RankedMatch& other) const
@@ -131,4 +165,9 @@ UnitTest test_ranked_match{[] {
     kak_assert(count_word_boundaries_match("countWordBoundariesMatch", "cWBM") == 4);
 }};
 
+UnitTest test_used_letters{[]()
+{
+    kak_assert(used_letters("abcd") == to_lower(used_letters("abcdABCD")));
+}};
+
 }
diff --git a/src/ranked_match.hh b/src/ranked_match.hh
index de03fd4c..0e0e49c4 100644
--- a/src/ranked_match.hh
+++ b/src/ranked_match.hh
@@ -6,9 +6,21 @@
 namespace Kakoune
 {
 
+using UsedLetters = uint64_t;
+UsedLetters used_letters(StringView str);
+
+constexpr UsedLetters upper_mask = 0xFFFFFFC000000;
+
+inline UsedLetters to_lower(UsedLetters letters)
+{
+    return ((letters & upper_mask) >> 26) | (letters & (~upper_mask));
+}
+
 struct RankedMatch
 {
     RankedMatch(StringView candidate, StringView query);
+    RankedMatch(StringView candidate, UsedLetters candidate_letters,
+                StringView query, UsedLetters query_letters);
 
     const StringView& candidate() const { return m_candidate; }
     bool operator<(const RankedMatch& other) const;
@@ -17,6 +29,9 @@ struct RankedMatch
     explicit operator bool() const { return not m_candidate.empty(); }
 
 private:
+    template<typename TestFunc>
+    RankedMatch(StringView candidate, StringView query, TestFunc test);
+
     StringView m_candidate;
     bool m_first_char_match = false;
     bool m_prefix = false;
diff --git a/src/word_db.cc b/src/word_db.cc
index ed54910a..65685a39 100644
--- a/src/word_db.cc
+++ b/src/word_db.cc
@@ -8,35 +8,8 @@
 namespace Kakoune
 {
 
-UsedLetters used_letters(StringView str)
-{
-    UsedLetters res;
-    for (auto c : str)
-    {
-        if (c >= 'a' and c <= 'z')
-            res.set(c - 'a');
-        else if (c >= 'A' and c <= 'Z')
-            res.set(c - 'A' + 26);
-        else if (c == '_')
-            res.set(53);
-        else if (c == '-')
-            res.set(54);
-        else
-            res.set(63);
-    }
-    return res;
-}
-
-constexpr UsedLetters upper_mask = 0xFFFFFFC000000;
-
-UsedLetters to_lower(UsedLetters letters)
-{
-    return ((letters & upper_mask) >> 26) | (letters & (~upper_mask));
-}
-
 using WordList = Vector<StringView>;
 
-
 static WordList get_words(StringView content)
 {
     WordList res;
@@ -155,11 +128,6 @@ int WordDB::get_word_occurences(StringView word) const
 
 RankedMatchList WordDB::find_matching(StringView query)
 {
-    auto matches = [](UsedLetters query, UsedLetters letters)
-    {
-        return (query & letters) == query;
-    };
-
     update_db();
     const UsedLetters letters = used_letters(query);
     RankedMatchList res;
@@ -171,12 +139,7 @@ RankedMatchList WordDB::find_matching(StringView query)
             continue;
         }
 
-        UsedLetters word_letters = word.second.letters;
-        if (not matches(to_lower(letters), to_lower(word_letters)) or
-            not matches(letters & upper_mask, word_letters & upper_mask))
-            continue;
-
-        if (RankedMatch match{word.first, query})
+        if (RankedMatch match{word.first, word.second.letters, query, letters})
             res.push_back(match);
     }
 
@@ -219,9 +182,4 @@ UnitTest test_word_db{[]()
     kak_assert(eq(res, WordList{ "allo" COMMA "mutch" COMMA "retchou" COMMA "tchou" }));
 }};
 
-UnitTest test_used_letters{[]()
-{
-    kak_assert(used_letters("abcd") == to_lower(used_letters("abcdABCD")));
-}};
-
 }
diff --git a/src/word_db.hh b/src/word_db.hh
index a4644b5b..3dcf455d 100644
--- a/src/word_db.hh
+++ b/src/word_db.hh
@@ -7,14 +7,9 @@
 #include "vector.hh"
 #include "ranked_match.hh"
 
-#include <bitset>
-
 namespace Kakoune
 {
 
-using UsedLetters = std::bitset<64>;
-UsedLetters used_letters(StringView str);
-
 using RankedMatchList = Vector<RankedMatch>;
 
 // maintain a database of words available in a buffer