diff --git a/src/earwigbot/wiki/copyvios/__init__.py b/src/earwigbot/wiki/copyvios/__init__.py
index 08ba328..b9e1e2e 100644
--- a/src/earwigbot/wiki/copyvios/__init__.py
+++ b/src/earwigbot/wiki/copyvios/__init__.py
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ class CopyvioMixIn:
         no_searches=False,
         no_links=False,
         short_circuit=True,
+        degree=5,
     ):
         """Check the page for copyright violations.
 
@@ -128,7 +129,7 @@ class CopyvioMixIn:
             self.get(),
             args={"nltk_dir": self._search_config["nltk_dir"], "lang": self._site.lang},
         )
-        article = MarkovChain(parser.strip())
+        article = MarkovChain(parser.strip(), degree=degree)
         parser_args = {}
 
         if self._exclusions_db:
@@ -151,6 +152,7 @@ class CopyvioMixIn:
             parser_args=parser_args,
             exclude_check=exclude,
             config=self._search_config,
+            degree=degree,
         )
 
         if article.size < 20:  # Auto-fail very small articles
@@ -178,7 +180,7 @@ class CopyvioMixIn:
         self._logger.info(result.get_log_message(self.title))
         return result
 
-    def copyvio_compare(self, url, min_confidence=0.75, max_time=30):
+    def copyvio_compare(self, url, min_confidence=0.75, max_time=30, degree=5):
         """Check the page like :py:meth:`copyvio_check` against a specific URL.
 
         This is essentially a reduced version of :meth:`copyvio_check` - a
@@ -201,7 +203,7 @@ class CopyvioMixIn:
         """
         log = "Starting copyvio compare for [[{0}]] against {1}"
         self._logger.info(log.format(self.title, url))
-        article = MarkovChain(ArticleTextParser(self.get()).strip())
+        article = MarkovChain(ArticleTextParser(self.get()).strip(), degree=5)
         workspace = CopyvioWorkspace(
             article,
             min_confidence,
@@ -211,6 +213,7 @@ class CopyvioMixIn:
             max_time,
             num_workers=1,
             config=self._search_config,
+            degree=degree,
         )
         workspace.enqueue([url])
         workspace.wait()
diff --git a/src/earwigbot/wiki/copyvios/markov.py b/src/earwigbot/wiki/copyvios/markov.py
index d994045..86bf497 100644
--- a/src/earwigbot/wiki/copyvios/markov.py
+++ b/src/earwigbot/wiki/copyvios/markov.py
@@ -28,10 +28,10 @@ class MarkovChain:
 
     START = -1
     END = -2
-    degree = 5  # 2 for bigrams, 3 for trigrams, etc.
 
-    def __init__(self, text):
+    def __init__(self, text, degree=5):
         self.text = text
+        self.degree = degree  # 2 for bigrams, 3 for trigrams, etc.
         self.chain = self._build()
         self.size = self._get_size()
 
diff --git a/src/earwigbot/wiki/copyvios/workers.py b/src/earwigbot/wiki/copyvios/workers.py
index 680b265..789821c 100644
--- a/src/earwigbot/wiki/copyvios/workers.py
+++ b/src/earwigbot/wiki/copyvios/workers.py
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ class _CopyvioWorker:
             source.skip()
             source.finish_work()
         else:
-            chain = MarkovChain(text) if text else None
+            chain = MarkovChain(text, degree=source.workspace._degree) if text else None
             source.workspace.compare(source, chain)
         return True
 
@@ -352,6 +352,7 @@ class CopyvioWorkspace:
         parser_args=None,
         exclude_check=None,
         config=None,
+        degree=5,
     ):
         self.sources = []
         self.finished = False
@@ -373,6 +374,7 @@ class CopyvioWorkspace:
             "search_config": config,
         }
         self._exclude_check = exclude_check
+        self._degree = degree
 
         if _is_globalized:
             self._queues = _global_queues