diff --git a/journal.go b/journal.go
index 72baf3f..c798ece 100644
--- a/journal.go
+++ b/journal.go
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ func (storeInstance *Store) QueryJournal(flux string) core.Result {
 			"SELECT bucket_name, measurement, fields_json, tags_json, committed_at, archived_at FROM " + journalEntriesTableName + " WHERE archived_at IS NULL ORDER BY committed_at",
 		)
 	}
-	if core.HasPrefix(trimmedQuery, "SELECT") || core.HasPrefix(trimmedQuery, "select") {
+	if isRawSQLJournalQuery(trimmedQuery) {
 		return storeInstance.queryJournalRows(trimmedQuery)
 	}
 
@@ -119,6 +119,13 @@ func (storeInstance *Store) QueryJournal(flux string) core.Result {
 	return storeInstance.queryJournalRows(selectSQL, arguments...)
 }
 
+func isRawSQLJournalQuery(query string) bool {
+	upperQuery := core.Upper(core.Trim(query))
+	return core.HasPrefix(upperQuery, "SELECT") ||
+		core.HasPrefix(upperQuery, "WITH") ||
+		core.HasPrefix(upperQuery, "EXPLAIN")
+}
+
 func (storeInstance *Store) queryJournalRows(query string, arguments ...any) core.Result {
 	rows, err := storeInstance.database.Query(query, arguments...)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/journal_test.go b/journal_test.go
index c148ba8..f55f70d 100644
--- a/journal_test.go
+++ b/journal_test.go
@@ -35,6 +35,31 @@ func TestJournal_CommitToJournal_Good_WithQueryJournalSQL(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "session-b", tags["workspace"])
 }
 
+func TestJournal_QueryJournal_Good_RawSQLWithCTE(t *testing.T) {
+	storeInstance, err := New(":memory:", WithJournal("http://127.0.0.1:8086", "core", "events"))
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer storeInstance.Close()
+
+	require.True(t,
+		storeInstance.CommitToJournal("session-a", map[string]any{"like": 4}, map[string]string{"workspace": "session-a"}).OK,
+	)
+
+	rows := requireResultRows(
+		t,
+		storeInstance.QueryJournal(`
+			WITH journal_rows AS (
+				SELECT bucket_name, measurement, fields_json, tags_json, committed_at, archived_at
+				FROM journal_entries
+			)
+			SELECT bucket_name, measurement, fields_json, tags_json, committed_at, archived_at
+			FROM journal_rows
+			ORDER BY committed_at
+		`),
+	)
+	require.Len(t, rows, 1)
+	assert.Equal(t, "session-a", rows[0]["measurement"])
+}
+
 func TestJournal_QueryJournal_Good_FluxFilters(t *testing.T) {
 	storeInstance, err := New(":memory:", WithJournal("http://127.0.0.1:8086", "core", "events"))
 	require.NoError(t, err)