diff --git a/src/index/fsindexer.cpp b/src/index/fsindexer.cpp
index cc2f951d..562c09a3 100644
--- a/src/index/fsindexer.cpp
+++ b/src/index/fsindexer.cpp
@@ -291,6 +291,8 @@ static bool matchesSkipped(const vector<string>& tdl,
  */
 bool FsIndexer::indexFiles(list<string>& files, ConfIndexer::IxFlag flag)
 {
+    int ret = false;
+
     if (!init())
         return false;
 
@@ -315,7 +317,8 @@ bool FsIndexer::indexFiles(list<string>& files, ConfIndexer::IxFlag flag)
 	// Check path against indexed areas and skipped names/paths
         if (!(flag&ConfIndexer::IxFIgnoreSkip) && 
 	    matchesSkipped(m_tdl, walker, *it)) {
-            it++; continue;
+            it++; 
+	    continue;
         }
 
 	struct stat stb;
@@ -324,17 +327,20 @@ bool FsIndexer::indexFiles(list<string>& files, ConfIndexer::IxFlag flag)
 	if (ststat != 0) {
 	    LOGERR(("FsIndexer::indexFiles: lstat(%s): %s", it->c_str(),
 		    strerror(errno)));
-            it++; continue;
+            it++; 
+	    continue;
 	}
 
 	if (processone(*it, &stb, FsTreeWalker::FtwRegular) != 
 	    FsTreeWalker::FtwOk) {
 	    LOGERR(("FsIndexer::indexFiles: processone failed\n"));
-	    return false;
+	    goto out;
 	}
         it = files.erase(it);
     }
 
+    ret = true;
+out:
 #ifdef IDX_THREADS
     if (m_haveInternQ) 
 	m_iwqueue.waitIdle();
@@ -342,14 +348,14 @@ bool FsIndexer::indexFiles(list<string>& files, ConfIndexer::IxFlag flag)
 	m_dwqueue.waitIdle();
     m_db->waitUpdIdle();
 #endif // IDX_THREADS
-
-    return true;
+    return ret;
 }
 
 
 /** Purge docs for given files out of the database */
 bool FsIndexer::purgeFiles(list<string>& files)
 {
+    bool ret = false;
     if (!init())
 	return false;
 
@@ -361,7 +367,7 @@ bool FsIndexer::purgeFiles(list<string>& files)
         bool existed;
 	if (!m_db->purgeFile(udi, &existed)) {
 	    LOGERR(("FsIndexer::purgeFiles: Database error\n"));
-	    return false;
+	    goto out;
 	}
         // If we actually deleted something, take it off the list
         if (existed) {
@@ -371,7 +377,16 @@ bool FsIndexer::purgeFiles(list<string>& files)
         }
     }
 
-    return true;
+    ret = true;
+out:
+#ifdef IDX_THREADS
+    if (m_haveInternQ) 
+	m_iwqueue.waitIdle();
+    if (m_haveSplitQ)
+	m_dwqueue.waitIdle();
+    m_db->waitUpdIdle();
+#endif // IDX_THREADS
+    return ret;
 }
 
 // Local fields can be set for fs subtrees in the configuration file 
diff --git a/src/utils/workqueue.h b/src/utils/workqueue.h
index 11dd4f15..8152270c 100644
--- a/src/utils/workqueue.h
+++ b/src/utils/workqueue.h
@@ -147,6 +147,11 @@ public:
      * only thread which can call it safely is the client just above
      * (which can control the task flow), else there could be
      * tasks in the intermediate queues.
+     * To rephrase: there is no warranty on return that the queue is actually
+     * idle EXCEPT if the caller knows that no jobs are still being created. 
+     * It would be possible to transform this into a safe call if some kind
+     * of suspend condition was set on the queue by waitIdle(), to be reset by 
+     * some kind of "resume" call. Not currently the case.
      */
     bool waitIdle()
     {