diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/anddict.c b/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/anddict.c
index 1c86f7018..70cfd6649 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/anddict.c
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/anddict.c
@@ -346,7 +346,10 @@ parseDict( AndDictionaryCtxt* ctxt, XP_U8 const* ptr, XP_U32 dictLength,
 #endif
          ) {
         JNIEnv* env = ctxt->env;
-        jstring jsum = and_util_figureMD5Sum( ctxt->jniutil, ptr, end - ptr );
+        jstring jsum = and_util_getMD5SumFor( ctxt->jniutil, ctxt->super.name );
+        if ( NULL == jsum ) {
+            jsum = and_util_figureMD5Sum( ctxt->jniutil, ptr, end - ptr );
+        }
         XP_UCHAR* md5Sum = getStringCopy( MPPARM(ctxt->super.mpool) env, jsum );
         (*env)->DeleteLocalRef( env, jsum );
         if ( NULL == ctxt->super.md5Sum ) {
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/jniutlswrapper.c b/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/jniutlswrapper.c
index e5d5b5d91..70bfc5e45 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/jniutlswrapper.c
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/jniutlswrapper.c
@@ -92,6 +92,19 @@ and_util_splitFaces( JNIUtilCtxt* jniutil, const XP_U8* bytes, jsize len,
     return strarray;
 }
 
+jstring
+and_util_getMD5SumFor( JNIUtilCtxt* jniutil, const XP_UCHAR* name )
+{
+    JNIEnv* env = *jniutil->envp;
+    jmethodID mid = getMethodID( env, jniutil->jjniutil, "getMD5SumFor",
+                                 "(Ljava/lang/String;)Ljava/lang/String;" );
+    jstring jname = (*env)->NewStringUTF( env, name );
+    jstring result = 
+        (*env)->CallObjectMethod( env, jniutil->jjniutil, mid, jname );
+    (*env)->DeleteLocalRef( env, jname );
+    return result;
+}
+
 jstring
 and_util_figureMD5Sum( JNIUtilCtxt* jniutil, const XP_U8* bytes, jsize len )
 {
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/jniutlswrapper.h b/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/jniutlswrapper.h
index 0cc6c53dc..389c1462d 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/jniutlswrapper.h
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/jniutlswrapper.h
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ jobject and_util_makeJBitmap( JNIUtilCtxt* jniu, int nCols, int nRows,
                               const jboolean* colors );
 jobject and_util_splitFaces( JNIUtilCtxt* jniu, const XP_U8* bytes, int len,
                              XP_Bool isUTF8 );
+jstring and_util_getMD5SumFor( JNIUtilCtxt* jniutil, const XP_UCHAR* name );
 jstring and_util_figureMD5Sum( JNIUtilCtxt* jniutil, const XP_U8* bytes, 
                                jsize len );
 
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/xwjni.c b/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/xwjni.c
index d7d7998d3..0433e41b1 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/xwjni.c
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/xwjni.c
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ Java_org_eehouse_android_xw4_jni_XwJNI_comms_1getUUID
 
 JNIEXPORT jboolean JNICALL
 Java_org_eehouse_android_xw4_jni_XwJNI_dict_1getInfo
-( JNIEnv* env, jclass C, jbyteArray jDictBytes, jstring jpath, 
+( JNIEnv* env, jclass C, jbyteArray jDictBytes, jstring jname, jstring jpath, 
   jobject jniu, jboolean check, jobject jinfo )
 {
     jboolean result = false;
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ Java_org_eehouse_android_xw4_jni_XwJNI_dict_1getInfo
     MemPoolCtx* mpool = mpool_make();
 #endif
     JNIUtilCtxt* jniutil = makeJNIUtil( MPPARM(mpool) &env, jniu );
-    DictionaryCtxt* dict = makeDict( MPPARM(mpool) env, jniutil, NULL,
+    DictionaryCtxt* dict = makeDict( MPPARM(mpool) env, jniutil, jname,
                                      jDictBytes, jpath, NULL, check );
     if ( NULL != dict ) {
         if ( NULL != jinfo ) {
@@ -1382,7 +1382,8 @@ typedef struct _DictIterData {
 
 JNIEXPORT jint JNICALL
 Java_org_eehouse_android_xw4_jni_XwJNI_dict_1iter_1init
-(JNIEnv* env, jclass C, jbyteArray jDictBytes, jstring jpath, jobject jniu )
+( JNIEnv* env, jclass C, jbyteArray jDictBytes, jstring jname, 
+  jstring jpath, jobject jniu )
 {
     jint closure = 0;
 #ifdef MEM_DEBUG
@@ -1391,7 +1392,7 @@ Java_org_eehouse_android_xw4_jni_XwJNI_dict_1iter_1init
     DictIterData* data = XP_CALLOC( mpool, sizeof(*data) );
     data->env = env;
     JNIUtilCtxt* jniutil = makeJNIUtil( MPPARM(mpool) &data->env, jniu );
-    DictionaryCtxt* dict = makeDict( MPPARM(mpool) env, jniutil, NULL,
+    DictionaryCtxt* dict = makeDict( MPPARM(mpool) env, jniutil, jname,
                                      jDictBytes, jpath, NULL, false );
     if ( !!dict ) {
         data->vtMgr = make_vtablemgr( MPPARM_NOCOMMA(mpool) );
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardActivity.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardActivity.java
index e9d14ce29..d5ce62292 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardActivity.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardActivity.java
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ public class BoardActivity extends XWActivity
         }
 
         m_utils = new BoardUtilCtxt();
-        m_jniu = JNIUtilsImpl.get();
+        m_jniu = JNIUtilsImpl.get( this );
         setContentView( R.layout.board );
         m_timers = new TimerRunnable[4]; // needs to be in sync with
                                          // XWTimerReason
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DBUtils.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DBUtils.java
index d732e94dc..52a024977 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DBUtils.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DBUtils.java
@@ -1031,6 +1031,31 @@ public class DBUtils {
         }
     }
 
+    public static String dictsGetMD5Sum( Context context, String name )
+    {
+        DictInfo info = dictsGetInfo( context, name );
+        String result = null == info? null : info.md5Sum;
+        return result;
+    }
+
+    public static void dictsSetMD5Sum( Context context, String name, String sum )
+    {
+        initDB( context );
+        synchronized( s_dbHelper ) {
+            SQLiteDatabase db = s_dbHelper.getWritableDatabase();
+            String selection = String.format( NAME_FMT, DBHelper.DICTNAME, name );
+            ContentValues values = new ContentValues();
+            values.put( DBHelper.MD5SUM, sum );
+            int result = db.update( DBHelper.TABLE_NAME_DICTINFO,
+                                    values, selection, null );
+            if ( 0 == result ) {
+                values.put( DBHelper.DICTNAME, name );
+                db.insert( DBHelper.TABLE_NAME_DICTINFO, null, values );
+            }
+            db.close();
+        }
+    }
+
     public static DictInfo dictsGetInfo( Context context, String name )
     {
         DictInfo result = null;
@@ -1147,6 +1172,8 @@ public class DBUtils {
     {
         if ( null == s_dbHelper ) {
             s_dbHelper = new DBHelper( context );
+            // force any upgrade
+            s_dbHelper.getWritableDatabase().close();
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictBrowseActivity.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictBrowseActivity.java
index 47b08a19e..116283703 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictBrowseActivity.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictBrowseActivity.java
@@ -164,9 +164,9 @@ public class DictBrowseActivity extends XWListActivity
 
             String[] names = { name };
             DictUtils.DictPairs pairs = DictUtils.openDicts( this, names );
-            m_dictClosure = XwJNI.dict_iter_init( pairs.m_bytes[0], 
-                                                  pairs.m_paths[0],
-                                                  JNIUtilsImpl.get() );
+            m_dictClosure = XwJNI.dict_iter_init( pairs.m_bytes[0],
+                                                  name, pairs.m_paths[0],
+                                                  JNIUtilsImpl.get(this) );
 
             m_browseState = DBUtils.dictsGetOffset( this, name );
             boolean newState = null == m_browseState;
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictLangCache.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictLangCache.java
index c6ecddf96..6bdca3580 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictLangCache.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictLangCache.java
@@ -367,8 +367,9 @@ public class DictLangCache {
             DictUtils.DictPairs pairs = DictUtils.openDicts( context, names );
 
             info = new DictInfo();
-            if ( XwJNI.dict_getInfo( pairs.m_bytes[0], pairs.m_paths[0], 
-                                     JNIUtilsImpl.get(), 
+            if ( XwJNI.dict_getInfo( pairs.m_bytes[0], dal.name, 
+                                     pairs.m_paths[0], 
+                                     JNIUtilsImpl.get( context ), 
                                      DictUtils.DictLoc.DOWNLOAD == dal.loc,
                                      info ) ) {
 
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictUtils.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictUtils.java
index d37f13083..02a519bdc 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictUtils.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/DictUtils.java
@@ -114,14 +114,14 @@ public class DictUtils {
         // changes?
     }
 
-    private static void tryDir( File dir, boolean strict, DictLoc loc, 
-                                ArrayList<DictAndLoc> al )
+    private static void tryDir( Context context, File dir, boolean strict, 
+                                DictLoc loc, ArrayList<DictAndLoc> al )
     {
         if ( null != dir ) {
             String[] list = dir.list();
             if ( null != list ) {
                 for ( String file : list ) {
-                    if ( isDict( file, strict? dir : null ) ) {
+                    if ( isDict( context, file, strict? dir : null ) ) {
                         al.add( new DictAndLoc( removeDictExtn( file ), loc ) );
                     }
                 }
@@ -135,21 +135,21 @@ public class DictUtils {
             ArrayList<DictAndLoc> al = new ArrayList<DictAndLoc>();
 
             for ( String file : getAssets( context ) ) {
-                if ( isDict( file, null ) ) {
+                if ( isDict( context, file, null ) ) {
                     al.add( new DictAndLoc( removeDictExtn( file ), 
                                             DictLoc.BUILT_IN ) );
                 }
             }
 
             for ( String file : context.fileList() ) {
-                if ( isDict( file, null ) ) {
+                if ( isDict( context, file, null ) ) {
                     al.add( new DictAndLoc( removeDictExtn( file ),
                                             DictLoc.INTERNAL ) );
                 }
             }
 
-            tryDir( getSDDir( context ), false, DictLoc.EXTERNAL, al );
-            tryDir( getDownloadDir(), true, DictLoc.DOWNLOAD, al );
+            tryDir( context, getSDDir( context ), false, DictLoc.EXTERNAL, al );
+            tryDir( context, getDownloadDir(), true, DictLoc.DOWNLOAD, al );
 
             s_dictListCache = 
                 al.toArray( new DictUtils.DictAndLoc[al.size()] );
@@ -480,13 +480,13 @@ public class DictUtils {
         return file.endsWith( XWConstants.GAME_EXTN );
     }
  
-    private static boolean isDict( String file, File dir )
+    private static boolean isDict( Context context, String file, File dir )
     {
         boolean ok = file.endsWith( XWConstants.DICT_EXTN );
         if ( ok && null != dir ) {
             String fullPath = new File( dir, file ).getPath();
-            ok = XwJNI.dict_getInfo( null, fullPath, JNIUtilsImpl.get(), 
-                                     true, null );
+            ok = XwJNI.dict_getInfo( null, removeDictExtn( file ), fullPath,
+                                     JNIUtilsImpl.get(context), true, null );
         }
         return ok;
     }
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/GameUtils.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/GameUtils.java
index 4c3f99231..25ac8f8bb 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/GameUtils.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/GameUtils.java
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ public class GameUtils {
         XwJNI.game_dispose( gamePtr );
 
         gamePtr = XwJNI.initJNI();
-        XwJNI.game_makeNewGame( gamePtr, gi, JNIUtilsImpl.get(), 
+        XwJNI.game_makeNewGame( gamePtr, gi, JNIUtilsImpl.get( context ), 
                                 CommonPrefs.get( context ), dictNames,
                                 pairs.m_bytes,  pairs.m_paths, gi.langName() );
                                 
@@ -360,11 +360,11 @@ public class GameUtils {
                 XwJNI.game_makeFromStream( gamePtr, stream, gi, 
                                            dictNames, pairs.m_bytes, 
                                            pairs.m_paths, langName,
-                                           util, JNIUtilsImpl.get(), 
+                                           util, JNIUtilsImpl.get( context ), 
                                            CommonPrefs.get(context),
                                            tp);
             if ( !madeGame ) {
-                XwJNI.game_makeNewGame( gamePtr, gi, JNIUtilsImpl.get(), 
+                XwJNI.game_makeNewGame( gamePtr, gi, JNIUtilsImpl.get(context), 
                                         CommonPrefs.get(context), dictNames,
                                         pairs.m_bytes, pairs.m_paths, 
                                         langName );
@@ -773,7 +773,7 @@ public class GameUtils {
         int gamePtr = XwJNI.initJNI();
         XwJNI.game_makeFromStream( gamePtr, stream, gi, dictNames, 
                                    pairs.m_bytes, pairs.m_paths,
-                                   gi.langName(), JNIUtilsImpl.get(), 
+                                   gi.langName(), JNIUtilsImpl.get(context), 
                                    CommonPrefs.get( context ) );
         // second time required as game_makeFromStream can overwrite
         gi.replaceDicts( newDict );
@@ -816,11 +816,12 @@ public class GameUtils {
                                                   new CurGameInfo(context), 
                                                   dictNames, pairs.m_bytes,
                                                   pairs.m_paths, langName,
-                                                  JNIUtilsImpl.get(), cp );
+                                                  JNIUtilsImpl.get(context),
+                                                  cp );
         }
 
         if ( forceNew || !madeGame ) {
-            XwJNI.game_makeNewGame( gamePtr, gi, JNIUtilsImpl.get(), 
+            XwJNI.game_makeNewGame( gamePtr, gi, JNIUtilsImpl.get(context), 
                                     cp, dictNames, pairs.m_bytes, 
                                     pairs.m_paths, langName );
         }
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/JNIUtils.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/JNIUtils.java
index ce9dff290..d1fff71a6 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/JNIUtils.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/JNIUtils.java
@@ -26,5 +26,6 @@ public interface JNIUtils {
 
     // Stuff I can't do in C....
     String[] splitFaces( byte[] chars, boolean isUTF8 );
+    String getMD5SumFor( String dictName );
     String figureMD5Sum( byte[] bytes );
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/JNIUtilsImpl.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/JNIUtilsImpl.java
index fc450e1ab..27b832446 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/JNIUtilsImpl.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/JNIUtilsImpl.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 package org.eehouse.android.xw4.jni;
 
+import android.content.Context;
 import android.graphics.Bitmap;
 import android.graphics.drawable.BitmapDrawable;
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
@@ -31,15 +32,17 @@ import org.eehouse.android.xw4.*;
 
 public class JNIUtilsImpl implements JNIUtils {
 
-    private static JNIUtils s_impl = null;
+    private static JNIUtilsImpl s_impl = null;
+    private Context m_context;
 
     private JNIUtilsImpl(){}
 
-    public static JNIUtils get()
+    public static JNIUtils get( Context context )
     {
         if ( null == s_impl ) {
             s_impl = new JNIUtilsImpl();
         }
+        s_impl.m_context = context;
         return s_impl;
     }
 
@@ -88,6 +91,11 @@ public class JNIUtilsImpl implements JNIUtils {
         return result;
     }
 
+    public String getMD5SumFor( String dictName )
+    {
+        return DBUtils.dictsGetMD5Sum( m_context, dictName );
+    }
+
     public String figureMD5Sum( byte[] bytes )
     {
         byte[] digest = null;
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/XwJNI.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/XwJNI.java
index 52795f0b1..e13d9df23 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/XwJNI.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/XwJNI.java
@@ -239,15 +239,15 @@ public class XwJNI {
     // Dicts
     public static native boolean dict_tilesAreSame( int dictPtr1, int dictPtr2 );
     public static native String[] dict_getChars( int dictPtr );
-    public static native boolean dict_getInfo( byte[] dict, String path, 
-                                               JNIUtils jniu, boolean check,
-                                               DictInfo info );
+    public static native boolean dict_getInfo( byte[] dict, String name,
+                                               String path, JNIUtils jniu, 
+                                               boolean check, DictInfo info );
     public static native int dict_getTileValue( int dictPtr, int tile );
 
     // Dict iterator
     public final static int MAX_COLS_DICT = 15; // from dictiter.h
-    public static native int dict_iter_init( byte[] dict, String path, 
-                                             JNIUtils jniu );
+    public static native int dict_iter_init( byte[] dict, String name,
+                                             String path, JNIUtils jniu );
     public static native void dict_iter_setMinMax( int closure,
                                                    int min, int max );
     public static native void dict_iter_destroy( int closure );