diff --git a/code/common/message-queue/src/main/java/nu/marginalia/mq/inbox/MqInbox.java b/code/common/message-queue/src/main/java/nu/marginalia/mq/inbox/MqInbox.java
index 20184f32..6f48f481 100644
--- a/code/common/message-queue/src/main/java/nu/marginalia/mq/inbox/MqInbox.java
+++ b/code/common/message-queue/src/main/java/nu/marginalia/mq/inbox/MqInbox.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ public class MqInbox {
     private volatile boolean run = true;
 
     private final int pollIntervalMs = Integer.getInteger("mq.inbox.poll-interval-ms", 100);
+    private final int maxPollCount = Integer.getInteger("mq.inbox.max-poll-count", 10);
     private final List<MqSubscription> eventSubscribers = new ArrayList<>();
     private final LinkedBlockingQueue<MqMessage> queue = new LinkedBlockingQueue<>(32);
 
@@ -194,7 +195,7 @@ public class MqInbox {
 
      private Collection<MqMessage> pollInbox(long tick) {
         try {
-            return persistence.pollInbox(inboxName, instanceUUID, tick);
+            return persistence.pollInbox(inboxName, instanceUUID, tick, maxPollCount);
         }
         catch (SQLException ex) {
             logger.error("Failed to poll inbox", ex);
diff --git a/code/common/message-queue/src/main/java/nu/marginalia/mq/outbox/MqOutbox.java b/code/common/message-queue/src/main/java/nu/marginalia/mq/outbox/MqOutbox.java
index a3cc319b..5bdeabd3 100644
--- a/code/common/message-queue/src/main/java/nu/marginalia/mq/outbox/MqOutbox.java
+++ b/code/common/message-queue/src/main/java/nu/marginalia/mq/outbox/MqOutbox.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ public class MqOutbox {
     private final ConcurrentHashMap<Long, MqMessage> pendingResponses = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
 
     private final int pollIntervalMs = Integer.getInteger("mq.outbox.poll-interval-ms", 100);
+    private final int maxPollCount = Integer.getInteger("mq.outbox.max-poll-count", 10);
     private final Thread pollThread;
 
     private volatile boolean run = true;
@@ -71,7 +72,7 @@ public class MqOutbox {
             return;
 
         try {
-            var updates = persistence.pollReplyInbox(replyInboxName, instanceUUID, tick);
+            var updates = persistence.pollReplyInbox(replyInboxName, instanceUUID, tick, maxPollCount);
 
             for (var message : updates) {
                 pendingResponses.put(message.relatedId(), message);
diff --git a/code/common/message-queue/src/main/java/nu/marginalia/mq/persistence/MqPersistence.java b/code/common/message-queue/src/main/java/nu/marginalia/mq/persistence/MqPersistence.java
index a62a0227..4e1f3843 100644
--- a/code/common/message-queue/src/main/java/nu/marginalia/mq/persistence/MqPersistence.java
+++ b/code/common/message-queue/src/main/java/nu/marginalia/mq/persistence/MqPersistence.java
@@ -167,18 +167,20 @@ public class MqPersistence {
      * then returns the number of messages marked.  This is an atomic operation that
      * ensures that messages aren't double processed.
      */
-    private int markInboxMessages(String inboxName, String instanceUUID, long tick) throws SQLException {
+    private int markInboxMessages(String inboxName, String instanceUUID, long tick, int n) throws SQLException {
         try (var conn = dataSource.getConnection();
              var updateStmt = conn.prepareStatement("""
                      UPDATE MESSAGE_QUEUE
                      SET OWNER_INSTANCE=?, OWNER_TICK=?, UPDATED_TIME=CURRENT_TIMESTAMP(6), STATE='ACK'
                      WHERE RECIPIENT_INBOX=?
                      AND OWNER_INSTANCE IS NULL AND STATE='NEW'
+                     LIMIT ?
                      """);
         ) {
             updateStmt.setString(1, instanceUUID);
             updateStmt.setLong(2, tick);
             updateStmt.setString(3, inboxName);
+            updateStmt.setInt(4, n);
             return updateStmt.executeUpdate();
         }
     }
@@ -186,10 +188,10 @@ public class MqPersistence {
     /**  Marks unclaimed messages addressed to this inbox with instanceUUID and tick,
      * then returns these messages.
      */
-    public Collection<MqMessage> pollInbox(String inboxName, String instanceUUID, long tick) throws SQLException {
+    public Collection<MqMessage> pollInbox(String inboxName, String instanceUUID, long tick, int n) throws SQLException {
 
         // Mark new messages as claimed
-        int expected = markInboxMessages(inboxName, instanceUUID, tick);
+        int expected = markInboxMessages(inboxName, instanceUUID, tick, n);
         if (expected == 0) {
             return Collections.emptyList();
         }
@@ -231,10 +233,10 @@ public class MqPersistence {
     /**  Marks unclaimed messages addressed to this inbox with instanceUUID and tick,
      * then returns these messages.
      */
-    public Collection<MqMessage> pollReplyInbox(String inboxName, String instanceUUID, long tick) throws SQLException {
+    public Collection<MqMessage> pollReplyInbox(String inboxName, String instanceUUID, long tick, int n) throws SQLException {
 
         // Mark new messages as claimed
-        int expected = markInboxMessages(inboxName, instanceUUID, tick);
+        int expected = markInboxMessages(inboxName, instanceUUID, tick, n);
         if (expected == 0) {
             return Collections.emptyList();
         }
diff --git a/code/tools/crawl-job-extractor/src/test/java/nu/marginalia/crawl/CrawlJobSpecWriterTest.java b/code/tools/crawl-job-extractor/src/test/java/nu/marginalia/crawl/CrawlJobSpecWriterTest.java
index ad9700da..38cfc4fb 100644
--- a/code/tools/crawl-job-extractor/src/test/java/nu/marginalia/crawl/CrawlJobSpecWriterTest.java
+++ b/code/tools/crawl-job-extractor/src/test/java/nu/marginalia/crawl/CrawlJobSpecWriterTest.java
@@ -37,7 +37,9 @@ public class CrawlJobSpecWriterTest {
         }
 
         List<CrawlingSpecification> outputs = new ArrayList<>();
-        CrawlerSpecificationLoader.readInputSpec(tempFile, outputs::add);
+        for (var item : CrawlerSpecificationLoader.asIterable(tempFile)) {
+            outputs.add(item);
+        }
 
         assertEquals(outputs.size(), 3);
     }