diff --git a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
index 0b7711e47..a7a376459 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ Friendly reminder, we have a [bug bounty program](https://hackerone.com/tendermi
 - [evidence] [\#4532](https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/pull/4532) Handle evidence from light clients (@melekes)
 - [light] [\#4532](https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/pull/4532) Submit conflicting headers, if any, to a full node & all witnesses (@melekes)
 - [rpc] [\#4532](https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/pull/4923) Support `BlockByHash` query (@fedekunze)
+- [rpc] \#4979 Support EXISTS operator in `/tx_search` query (@melekes)
 - [p2p] \#4981 Expose `SaveAs` func on NodeKey (@melekes)
 
 ### IMPROVEMENTS:
diff --git a/rpc/swagger/swagger.yaml b/rpc/swagger/swagger.yaml
index 700270388..b195ac935 100644
--- a/rpc/swagger/swagger.yaml
+++ b/rpc/swagger/swagger.yaml
@@ -833,6 +833,10 @@ paths:
   /tx_search:
     get:
       summary: Search for transactions
+      description: |
+        Search for transactions w/ their results.
+
+        See /subscribe for the query syntax.
       operationId: tx_search
       parameters:
         - in: query
@@ -876,8 +880,6 @@ paths:
             example: "asc"
       tags:
         - Info
-      description: |
-        Get list of unconfirmed transactions
       responses:
         200:
           description: List of unconfirmed transactions
diff --git a/state/txindex/kv/kv.go b/state/txindex/kv/kv.go
index da672aef5..586120e35 100644
--- a/state/txindex/kv/kv.go
+++ b/state/txindex/kv/kv.go
@@ -425,6 +425,32 @@ func (txi *TxIndex) match(
 			default:
 			}
 		}
+		if err := it.Error(); err != nil {
+			panic(err)
+		}
+
+	case c.Op == query.OpExists:
+		// XXX: can't use startKeyBz here because c.Operand is nil
+		// (e.g. "account.owner/<nil>/" won't match w/ a single row)
+		it, err := dbm.IteratePrefix(txi.store, startKey(c.CompositeKey))
+		if err != nil {
+			panic(err)
+		}
+		defer it.Close()
+
+		for ; it.Valid(); it.Next() {
+			tmpHashes[string(it.Value())] = it.Value()
+
+			// Potentially exit early.
+			select {
+			case <-ctx.Done():
+				break
+			default:
+			}
+		}
+		if err := it.Error(); err != nil {
+			panic(err)
+		}
 
 	case c.Op == query.OpContains:
 		// XXX: startKey does not apply here.
@@ -452,6 +478,9 @@ func (txi *TxIndex) match(
 			default:
 			}
 		}
+		if err := it.Error(); err != nil {
+			panic(err)
+		}
 	default:
 		panic("other operators should be handled already")
 	}
@@ -553,6 +582,9 @@ LOOP:
 		default:
 		}
 	}
+	if err := it.Error(); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
 
 	if len(tmpHashes) == 0 || firstRun {
 		// Either:
diff --git a/state/txindex/kv/kv_test.go b/state/txindex/kv/kv_test.go
index 209fa8bae..21b18608c 100644
--- a/state/txindex/kv/kv_test.go
+++ b/state/txindex/kv/kv_test.go
@@ -117,6 +117,10 @@ func TestTxSearch(t *testing.T) {
 		{"account.owner CONTAINS 'Vlad'", 0},
 		// search using the wrong key (of numeric type) using CONTAINS
 		{"account.number CONTAINS 'Iv'", 0},
+		// search using EXISTS
+		{"account.number EXISTS", 1},
+		// search using EXISTS for non existing key
+		{"account.date EXISTS", 0},
 	}
 
 	ctx := context.Background()