diff --git a/indexing/basic/index.pl b/indexing/basic/index.pl
index 1967e7bd4..b40996d56 100755
--- a/indexing/basic/index.pl
+++ b/indexing/basic/index.pl
@@ -60,48 +60,53 @@ my $json = JSON::Any->new;
 # TODO: remove hard-coded realm
 $ua->credentials($hostport, "camlistored", "user", $netrc_mach->password);
 
-my $after = "";
-my $n_blobs = 0;
-while (1) {
-    print "Enumerating starting at: $after ... ($n_blobs blobs so far)\n";
-    my $res = $ua->get("$scheme://$hostport/camli/enumerate-blobs?after=$after&limit=5000");
-    unless ($res->is_success) {
-        die "Failure from /camli/enumerate-blobs?after=$after: " . $res->status_line;
-    }
-    my $jres = $json->jsonToObj($res->content);
+print "Iterating over blobs.\n";
+my $n_blobs = learn_blob_digests_and_sizes();
+print "Number of blobs: $n_blobs.\n";
 
-    my $bloblist = $jres->{'blobs'};
-    if (ref($bloblist) eq "ARRAY") {
-        my $first = $bloblist->[0]{'blobRef'};
-        my $last = $bloblist->[-1]{'blobRef'};
-        my $sth = $db->prepare("SELECT blobref, size, mimetype FROM blobs WHERE " .
-                               "blobref >= ? AND blobref <= ?");
-        $sth->execute($first, $last);
-        my %inventory;  # blobref -> [$size, $bool_have_mime]
-        while (my ($lblob, $lsize, $lmimetype) = $sth->fetchrow_array) {
-            $inventory{$lblob} = [$lsize, defined($lmimetype)];
+sub learn_blob_digests_and_sizes {
+    my $after = "";
+    my $n_blobs = 0;
+    while (1) {
+        my $after_display = $after || "(start)";
+        print "Enumerating starting at: $after_display ... ($n_blobs blobs so far)\n";
+        my $res = $ua->get("$scheme://$hostport/camli/enumerate-blobs?after=$after&limit=1000");
+        unless ($res->is_success) {
+            die "Failure from /camli/enumerate-blobs?after=$after: " . $res->status_line;
         }
+        my $jres = $json->jsonToObj($res->content);
 
-        foreach my $blob (@$bloblist) {
-            $n_blobs++;
-            my $lblob = $inventory{$blob->{'blobRef'}};
-            if (!$lblob) {
-                print "Inserting $blob->{'blobRef'} ...\n";
-                $db->do("INSERT INTO blobs (blobref, size) VALUES (?, ?)", undef,
-                        $blob->{'blobRef'}, $blob->{'size'});
-                next;
+        my $bloblist = $jres->{'blobs'};
+        if (ref($bloblist) eq "ARRAY") {
+            my $first = $bloblist->[0]{'blobRef'};
+            my $last = $bloblist->[-1]{'blobRef'};
+            my $sth = $db->prepare("SELECT blobref, size, mimetype FROM blobs WHERE " .
+                                   "blobref >= ? AND blobref <= ?");
+            $sth->execute($first, $last);
+            my %inventory;  # blobref -> [$size, $bool_have_mime]
+            while (my ($lblob, $lsize, $lmimetype) = $sth->fetchrow_array) {
+                $inventory{$lblob} = [$lsize, defined($lmimetype)];
             }
-            if ($lblob && !$lblob->[0] && $blob->{'size'}) {
-                print "Updating size of $blob->{'blobRef'} ...\n";
-                $db->do("UPDATE blobs SET size=? WHERE blobref=?", undef,
-                        $blob->{'size'}, $blob->{'blobRef'});
-                next;
+            foreach my $blob (@$bloblist) {
+                $n_blobs++;
+                my $lblob = $inventory{$blob->{'blobRef'}};
+                if (!$lblob) {
+                    print "Inserting $blob->{'blobRef'} ...\n";
+                    $db->do("INSERT INTO blobs (blobref, size) VALUES (?, ?)", undef,
+                            $blob->{'blobRef'}, $blob->{'size'});
+                    next;
+                }
+                if ($lblob && !$lblob->[0] && $blob->{'size'}) {
+                    print "Updating size of $blob->{'blobRef'} ...\n";
+                    $db->do("UPDATE blobs SET size=? WHERE blobref=?", undef,
+                            $blob->{'size'}, $blob->{'blobRef'});
+                    next;
+                }
             }
         }
 
+        last unless $jres->{'after'} && $jres->{'after'} gt $after;
+        $after = $jres->{'after'};
     }
-
-    last unless $jres->{'after'} && $jres->{'after'} gt $after;
-    $after = $jres->{'after'};
+    return $n_blobs;
 }
-print "$n_blobs blobs indexed.\n";