diff --git a/src/features/messages/pi-queries/usePiChainMessageQuery.ts b/src/features/messages/pi-queries/usePiChainMessageQuery.ts
index aa04645..881fa49 100644
--- a/src/features/messages/pi-queries/usePiChainMessageQuery.ts
+++ b/src/features/messages/pi-queries/usePiChainMessageQuery.ts
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export function usePiChainMessageSearchQuery({
     ],
     queryFn: async () => {
       const hasInput = !!sanitizedInput;
-      const isValidInput = isValidSearchQuery(sanitizedInput, true);
+      const isValidInput = isValidSearchQuery(sanitizedInput);
       if (pause || !multiProvider || !hasInput || !isValidInput) return [];
       logger.debug('Starting PI Chain message search for:', sanitizedInput);
       // TODO handle time-based filters here
diff --git a/src/features/messages/queries/build.ts b/src/features/messages/queries/build.ts
index 46208e1..9b49369 100644
--- a/src/features/messages/queries/build.ts
+++ b/src/features/messages/queries/build.ts
@@ -71,14 +71,12 @@ export function buildMessageSearchQuery(
   limit: number,
   useStub = false,
 ) {
-  const hasInput = !!searchInput;
-
   const originChains = originFilter ? originFilter.split(',') : undefined;
   const destinationChains = destFilter ? destFilter.split(',') : undefined;
   const startTime = startTimeFilter ? adjustToUtcTime(startTimeFilter) : undefined;
   const endTime = endTimeFilter ? adjustToUtcTime(endTimeFilter) : undefined;
   const variables = {
-    search: hasInput ? searchValueToPostgresBytea(searchInput) : undefined,
+    search: searchValueToPostgresBytea(searchInput),
     originChains,
     destinationChains,
     startTime,
diff --git a/src/features/messages/queries/encoding.ts b/src/features/messages/queries/encoding.ts
index 6fa9c11..9f621e6 100644
--- a/src/features/messages/queries/encoding.ts
+++ b/src/features/messages/queries/encoding.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,16 @@
 import { ChainMetadata } from '@hyperlane-xyz/sdk';
 import {
   addressToByteHexString,
+  base58ToBuffer,
+  bufferToBase58,
   bytesToProtocolAddress,
   ensure0x,
   isAddress,
   isAddressEvm,
+  isValidTransactionHashCosmos,
+  isValidTransactionHashEvm,
+  isValidTransactionHashSealevel,
+  ProtocolType,
   strip0x,
 } from '@hyperlane-xyz/utils';
 
@@ -34,7 +40,33 @@ export function postgresByteaToAddress(
   return bytesToProtocolAddress(addressBytes, chainMetadata.protocol, chainMetadata.bech32Prefix);
 }
 
-export function searchValueToPostgresBytea(input: string): string {
-  if (isAddress(input)) return addressToPostgresBytea(input);
-  else return stringToPostgresBytea(input);
+export function postgresByteaToTxHash(
+  byteString: string,
+  chainMetadata: ChainMetadata | null | undefined,
+): string {
+  const hexString = postgresByteaToString(byteString);
+  // Return hex string for protocols other than Sealevel
+  if (chainMetadata?.protocol !== ProtocolType.Sealevel) return hexString;
+  const bytes = Buffer.from(strip0x(hexString), 'hex');
+  return bufferToBase58(bytes);
+}
+
+export function searchValueToPostgresBytea(input: string): string | undefined {
+  if (!input) return undefined;
+  try {
+    if (isAddress(input)) {
+      return addressToPostgresBytea(input);
+    }
+    if (isValidTransactionHashEvm(input) || isValidTransactionHashCosmos(input)) {
+      return stringToPostgresBytea(input);
+    }
+    if (isValidTransactionHashSealevel(input)) {
+      const bytes = base58ToBuffer(input);
+      return stringToPostgresBytea(bytes.toString('hex'));
+    }
+    return undefined;
+  } catch (error) {
+    // Search input couldn't be decoded and recoded properly
+    return undefined;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/features/messages/queries/parse.ts b/src/features/messages/queries/parse.ts
index 276efdb..4cc9e40 100644
--- a/src/features/messages/queries/parse.ts
+++ b/src/features/messages/queries/parse.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { tryUtf8DecodeBytes } from '../../../utils/string';
 import { DomainsEntry } from '../../chains/queries/fragments';
 import { isPiChain } from '../../chains/utils';
 
-import { postgresByteaToAddress, postgresByteaToString } from './encoding';
+import { postgresByteaToAddress, postgresByteaToString, postgresByteaToTxHash } from './encoding';
 import {
   MessageEntry,
   MessageStubEntry,
@@ -79,13 +79,13 @@ function parseMessageStub(
       destinationDomainId: m.destination_domain_id,
       origin: {
         timestamp: parseTimestampString(m.send_occurred_at),
-        hash: postgresByteaToString(m.origin_tx_hash),
+        hash: postgresByteaToTxHash(m.origin_tx_hash, originMetadata),
         from: postgresByteaToAddress(m.origin_tx_sender, originMetadata),
       },
       destination: m.is_delivered
         ? {
             timestamp: parseTimestampString(m.delivery_occurred_at!),
-            hash: postgresByteaToString(m.destination_tx_hash!),
+            hash: postgresByteaToTxHash(m.destination_tx_hash!, destinationMetadata),
             from: postgresByteaToAddress(m.destination_tx_sender!, destinationMetadata),
           }
         : undefined,
diff --git a/src/features/messages/queries/useMessageQuery.ts b/src/features/messages/queries/useMessageQuery.ts
index ec55e43..1e09470 100644
--- a/src/features/messages/queries/useMessageQuery.ts
+++ b/src/features/messages/queries/useMessageQuery.ts
@@ -1,18 +1,13 @@
 import { useCallback, useMemo } from 'react';
 import { useQuery } from 'urql';
 
-import {
-  isAddress,
-  isValidTransactionHashCosmos,
-  isValidTransactionHashEvm,
-} from '@hyperlane-xyz/utils';
-
 import { useMultiProvider } from '../../../store';
 import { MessageStatus } from '../../../types';
 import { useInterval } from '../../../utils/useInterval';
 import { useScrapedDomains } from '../../chains/queries/useScrapedChains';
 
 import { MessageIdentifierType, buildMessageQuery, buildMessageSearchQuery } from './build';
+import { searchValueToPostgresBytea } from './encoding';
 import { MessagesQueryResult, MessagesStubQueryResult } from './fragments';
 import { parseMessageQueryResult, parseMessageStubResult } from './parse';
 
@@ -21,13 +16,9 @@ const MSG_AUTO_REFRESH_DELAY = 10_000; // 10s
 const LATEST_QUERY_LIMIT = 100;
 const SEARCH_QUERY_LIMIT = 50;
 
-export function isValidSearchQuery(input: string, allowAddress?: boolean) {
+export function isValidSearchQuery(input: string) {
   if (!input) return false;
-  return !!(
-    isValidTransactionHashEvm(input) ||
-    isValidTransactionHashCosmos(input) ||
-    (allowAddress && isAddress(input))
-  );
+  return !!searchValueToPostgresBytea(input);
 }
 
 export function useMessageSearchQuery(
@@ -40,7 +31,7 @@ export function useMessageSearchQuery(
   const { scrapedDomains: scrapedChains } = useScrapedDomains();
 
   const hasInput = !!sanitizedInput;
-  const isValidInput = hasInput ? isValidSearchQuery(sanitizedInput, true) : true;
+  const isValidInput = !hasInput || isValidSearchQuery(sanitizedInput);
 
   // Assemble GraphQL query
   const { query, variables } = buildMessageSearchQuery(
diff --git a/src/utils/string.ts b/src/utils/string.ts
index fb71df1..637451d 100644
--- a/src/utils/string.ts
+++ b/src/utils/string.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { strip0x } from '@hyperlane-xyz/utils';
 const alphanumericRgex = /[^a-zA-Z0-9]/gi;
 export function sanitizeString(str: string) {
   if (!str || typeof str !== 'string') return '';
-  return str.replaceAll(alphanumericRgex, '').toLowerCase();
+  return str.replaceAll(alphanumericRgex, '');
 }
 
 export function tryUtf8DecodeBytes(value: string, fatal = true) {