diff --git a/badger/helpers.go b/badger/helpers.go
index 671c89e..cc78b6a 100644
--- a/badger/helpers.go
+++ b/badger/helpers.go
@@ -147,17 +147,29 @@ func getAddrTagElements(tagValue string) (kind uint16, pkb []byte, d string) {
 // mergeSortMultipleBatches takes the results of multiple iterators, which are already sorted,
 // and merges them into a single big sorted slice
 func mergeSortMultiple(batches [][]*nostr.Event, limit int) []*nostr.Event {
+	// clear up empty lists here while simultaneously computing the total count.
+	// this helps because if there are a bunch of empty lists then this pre-clean
+	//   step will get us in the faster 'merge' branch otherwise we would go to the other.
+	// we would have to do the cleaning anyway inside it.
+	// and even if we still go on the other we save one iteration by already computing the
+	//   total count.
+	total := 0
+	for i := len(batches) - 1; i >= 0; i-- {
+		if len(batches[i]) == 0 {
+			batches = swapDelete(batches, i)
+		} else {
+			total += len(batches[i])
+		}
+	}
+
+	// this amazing equation will ensure that if one of the two sides goes very small (like 1 or 2)
+	//   the other can go very high (like 500) and we're still in the 'merge' branch.
+	// if values go somewhere in the middle then they may match the 'merge' branch (batches=20,limit=70)
+	//   or not (batches=25, limit=60)
 	if math.Log(float64(len(batches)*2))+math.Log(float64(limit)) < 8 {
-		// this amazing function will ensure that if one of the two sides goes very small (like 1 or 2)
-		// the other can go very high (like 500) and we're still here. if values go somewhere in the middle
-		// then they may match here (batches=20,limit=70) or not (batches=25, limit=60)
-		return mergesortedslices.MergeFuncLimit(batches, nostr.CompareEventPtr, limit)
+		return mergesortedslices.MergeFuncLimitNoEmptyLists(batches, nostr.CompareEventPtr, limit)
 	} else {
 		// use quicksort in a dumb way that will still be fast because it's cheated
-		total := 0
-		for _, one := range batches {
-			total += len(one)
-		}
 		merged := make([]*nostr.Event, total)
 
 		lastIndex := 0
@@ -201,3 +213,8 @@ func filterMatchesTags(ef *nostr.Filter, event *nostr.Event) bool {
 	}
 	return true
 }
+
+func swapDelete[A any](arr []A, i int) []A {
+	arr[i] = arr[len(arr)-1]
+	return arr[:len(arr)-1]
+}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 75727e5..236a5e2 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/elastic/go-elasticsearch/v8 v8.10.1
 	github.com/fergusstrange/embedded-postgres v1.28.0
 	github.com/fiatjaf/cli/v3 v3.0.0-20240723181502-e7dd498b16ae
-	github.com/fiatjaf/merge-sorted-slices v0.0.5
+	github.com/fiatjaf/merge-sorted-slices v0.0.6
 	github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql v1.7.1
 	github.com/jmoiron/sqlx v1.3.5
 	github.com/lib/pq v1.10.9
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index df23014..d4f70e2 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -97,8 +97,8 @@ github.com/fergusstrange/embedded-postgres v1.28.0 h1:Atixd24HCuBHBavnG4eiZAjRiz
 github.com/fergusstrange/embedded-postgres v1.28.0/go.mod h1:t/MLs0h9ukYM6FSt99R7InCHs1nW0ordoVCcnzmpTYw=
 github.com/fiatjaf/cli/v3 v3.0.0-20240723181502-e7dd498b16ae h1:0B/1dU3YECIbPoBIRTQ4c0scZCNz9TVHtQpiODGrTTo=
 github.com/fiatjaf/cli/v3 v3.0.0-20240723181502-e7dd498b16ae/go.mod h1:aAWPO4bixZZxPtOnH6K3q4GbQ0jftUNDW9Oa861IRew=
-github.com/fiatjaf/merge-sorted-slices v0.0.5 h1:Mmt3TdONTnhp3F4YHN/Uta8tFOm5RhBhdzuLEucStAw=
-github.com/fiatjaf/merge-sorted-slices v0.0.5/go.mod h1:k7H3l+OhO2m/PA99FdBjF29Z0TAwRClgKA9PvoT6obY=
+github.com/fiatjaf/merge-sorted-slices v0.0.6 h1:6jawP9Zx5RTKEHvQt6z+8zvmtCkb1JTz1498N3OE70A=
+github.com/fiatjaf/merge-sorted-slices v0.0.6/go.mod h1:k7H3l+OhO2m/PA99FdBjF29Z0TAwRClgKA9PvoT6obY=
 github.com/fogleman/gg v1.2.1-0.20190220221249-0403632d5b90/go.mod h1:R/bRT+9gY/C5z7JzPU0zXsXHKM4/ayA+zqcVNZzPa1k=
 github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify v1.4.7/go.mod h1:jwhsz4b93w/PPRr/qN1Yymfu8t87LnFCMoQvtojpjFo=
 github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql v1.6.0/go.mod h1:DCzpHaOWr8IXmIStZouvnhqoel9Qv2LBy8hT2VhHyBg=