diff --git a/lib/hk-util.js b/lib/hk-util.js
index 0e79c0691..3b8c07e09 100644
--- a/lib/hk-util.js
+++ b/lib/hk-util.js
@@ -665,31 +665,17 @@ const handleGetHistoryRange = function (Env, Server, seq, userId, parsed) {
     }
 
     Server.send(userId, [seq, 'ACK']);
-    Env.getOlderHistory(channelName, oldestKnownHash, function (err, messages) {
+    Env.getOlderHistory(channelName, oldestKnownHash, desiredMessages, desiredCheckpoint, function (err, toSend) {
         if (err && err.code !== 'ENOENT') {
             Env.Log.error("HK_GET_OLDER_HISTORY", err);
         }
 
-        if (!Array.isArray(messages)) { messages = []; }
-
-        // FIXME this reduction could be done in the worker instead of the main process
-        var toSend = [];
-        if (typeof (desiredMessages) === "number") {
-            toSend = messages.slice(-desiredMessages);
-        } else {
-            let cpCount = 0;
-            for (var i = messages.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
-                if (/^cp\|/.test(messages[i][4]) && i !== (messages.length - 1)) {
-                    cpCount++;
-                }
-                toSend.unshift(messages[i]);
-                if (cpCount >= desiredCheckpoint) { break; }
-            }
+        if (Array.isArray(toSend)) {
+            toSend.forEach(function (msg) {
+                Server.send(userId, [0, HISTORY_KEEPER_ID, 'MSG', userId,
+                    JSON.stringify(['HISTORY_RANGE', txid, msg])]);
+            });
         }
-        toSend.forEach(function (msg) {
-            Server.send(userId, [0, HISTORY_KEEPER_ID, 'MSG', userId,
-                JSON.stringify(['HISTORY_RANGE', txid, msg])]);
-        });
 
         Server.send(userId, [0, HISTORY_KEEPER_ID, 'MSG', userId,
             JSON.stringify(['HISTORY_RANGE_END', txid, channelName])
diff --git a/lib/workers/db-worker.js b/lib/workers/db-worker.js
index 0f3d3b87f..d80c2dc21 100644
--- a/lib/workers/db-worker.js
+++ b/lib/workers/db-worker.js
@@ -222,10 +222,10 @@ const computeMetadata = function (data, cb) {
 const getOlderHistory = function (data, cb) {
     const oldestKnownHash = data.hash;
     const channelName = data.channel;
+    const desiredMessages = data.desiredMessages;
+    const desiredCheckpoint = data.desiredCheckpoint;
 
-    //const store = Env.store;
-    //const Log = Env.Log;
-    var messageBuffer = [];
+    var messages = [];
     var found = false;
     store.getMessages(channelName, function (msgStr) {
         if (found) { return; }
@@ -246,9 +246,22 @@ const getOlderHistory = function (data, cb) {
         if (hash === oldestKnownHash) {
             found = true;
         }
-        messageBuffer.push(parsed);
+        messages.push(parsed);
     }, function (err) {
-        cb(err, messageBuffer);
+        var toSend = [];
+        if (typeof (desiredMessages) === "number") {
+            toSend = messages.slice(-desiredMessages);
+        } else {
+            let cpCount = 0;
+            for (var i = messages.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+                if (/^cp\|/.test(messages[i][4]) && i !== (messages.length - 1)) {
+                    cpCount++;
+                }
+                toSend.unshift(messages[i]);
+                if (cpCount >= desiredCheckpoint) { break; }
+            }
+        }
+        cb(err, toSend);
     });
 };
 
diff --git a/lib/workers/index.js b/lib/workers/index.js
index cc11d538b..6a163cadc 100644
--- a/lib/workers/index.js
+++ b/lib/workers/index.js
@@ -250,12 +250,14 @@ Workers.initialize = function (Env, config, _cb) {
             });
         };
 
-        Env.getOlderHistory = function (channel, oldestKnownHash, cb) {
+        Env.getOlderHistory = function (channel, oldestKnownHash, desiredMessages, desiredCheckpoint, cb) {
             Env.store.getWeakLock(channel, function (next) {
                 sendCommand({
                     channel: channel,
                     command: "GET_OLDER_HISTORY",
                     hash: oldestKnownHash,
+                    desiredMessages: desiredMessages,
+                    desiredCheckpoint: desiredCheckpoint,
                 }, Util.both(next, cb));
             });
         };