diff --git a/mailnews/base/search/public/nsIMsgFilter.idl b/mailnews/base/search/public/nsIMsgFilter.idl
index 7ae5bc50f1c0..9c455ac5a1eb 100644
--- a/mailnews/base/search/public/nsIMsgFilter.idl
+++ b/mailnews/base/search/public/nsIMsgFilter.idl
@@ -77,8 +77,7 @@ interface nsIMsgFilter : nsISupports {
 
     nsIMsgSearchTerm createTerm();
 
-    // this is the actual array of search terms, and is thus modifyable
-    readonly attribute nsISupportsArray searchTerms;
+    attribute nsISupportsArray searchTerms;
 
     attribute nsIMsgSearchScopeTerm scope;