  We propose a direct search for the X17 particle, which was conjectured to
explain the ATOMKI $^8$Be and $^4$He anomalies, through the dilepton
photoproduction process on a nucleon in the photon energy range below or around
the pion production threshold. For the scenarios of either pseudoscalar,
vector, or axial-vector quantum numbers of the conjectured X17, we use existing
constraints to estimate the X17 signal process. For dilepton resolutions which
have been achieved in previous experiments, a signal-to-background ratio of up
to an order of magnitude is found for a neutron target, and in particular for
the pseudoscalar and vector X17 scenarios.
