diff --git a/lib/database.cc b/lib/database.cc
index 19f960e2..cce78478 100644
--- a/lib/database.cc
+++ b/lib/database.cc
@@ -681,8 +681,7 @@ handle_sigalrm (unused (int signal))
 notmuch_status_t
 notmuch_database_upgrade (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
 			  void (*progress_notify) (void *closure,
-						   unsigned int count,
-						   unsigned int total),
+						   double progress),
 			  void *closure)
 {
     Xapian::WritableDatabase *db;
@@ -691,6 +690,7 @@ notmuch_database_upgrade (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
     notmuch_bool_t timer_is_active = FALSE;
     unsigned int version;
     notmuch_status_t status;
+    unsigned int count = 0, total = 0;
 
     status = _notmuch_database_ensure_writable (notmuch);
     if (status)
@@ -726,11 +726,11 @@ notmuch_database_upgrade (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
      * notmuch_message_add_filename.
      */
     if (version < 1) {
-	unsigned int count = 0, total;
 	notmuch_query_t *query = notmuch_query_create (notmuch, "");
 	notmuch_messages_t *messages;
 	notmuch_message_t *message;
 	char *filename;
+	Xapian::TermIterator t, t_end;
 
 	total = notmuch_query_count_messages (query);
 
@@ -739,7 +739,7 @@ notmuch_database_upgrade (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
 	     notmuch_messages_advance (messages))
 	{
 	    if (do_progress_notify) {
-		progress_notify (closure, count, total);
+		progress_notify (closure, (double) count / total);
 		do_progress_notify = 0;
 	    }
 
@@ -758,13 +758,10 @@ notmuch_database_upgrade (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
 	}
 
 	notmuch_query_destroy (query);
-    }
 
-    /* Also, before version 1 we stored directory timestamps in
-     * XTIMESTAMP documents instead of the current XDIRECTORY
-     * documents. So copy those as well. */
-    if (version < 1) {
-	Xapian::TermIterator t, t_end;
+	/* Also, before version 1 we stored directory timestamps in
+	 * XTIMESTAMP documents instead of the current XDIRECTORY
+	 * documents. So copy those as well. */
 
 	t_end = notmuch->xapian_db->allterms_end ("XTIMESTAMP");
 
@@ -785,6 +782,11 @@ notmuch_database_upgrade (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
 		time_t mtime;
 		notmuch_directory_t *directory;
 
+		if (do_progress_notify) {
+		    progress_notify (closure, (double) count / total);
+		    do_progress_notify = 0;
+		}
+
 		document = find_document_for_doc_id (notmuch, *p);
 		mtime = Xapian::sortable_unserialise (
 		    document.get_value (NOTMUCH_VALUE_TIMESTAMP));
@@ -803,20 +805,17 @@ notmuch_database_upgrade (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
     /* Now that the upgrade is complete we can remove the old data
      * and documents that are no longer needed. */
     if (version < 1) {
-	unsigned int count = 0, total;
 	notmuch_query_t *query = notmuch_query_create (notmuch, "");
 	notmuch_messages_t *messages;
 	notmuch_message_t *message;
 	char *filename;
 
-	total = notmuch_query_count_messages (query);
-
 	for (messages = notmuch_query_search_messages (query);
 	     notmuch_messages_has_more (messages);
 	     notmuch_messages_advance (messages))
 	{
 	    if (do_progress_notify) {
-		progress_notify (closure, count, total);
+		progress_notify (closure, (double) count / total);
 		do_progress_notify = 0;
 	    }
 
@@ -830,8 +829,6 @@ notmuch_database_upgrade (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
 	    talloc_free (filename);
 
 	    notmuch_message_destroy (message);
-
-	    count++;
 	}
 
 	notmuch_query_destroy (query);
@@ -855,6 +852,11 @@ notmuch_database_upgrade (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
 		 p != p_end;
 		 p++)
 	    {
+		if (do_progress_notify) {
+		    progress_notify (closure, (double) count / total);
+		    do_progress_notify = 0;
+		}
+
 		db->delete_document (*p);
 	    }
 	}
diff --git a/lib/notmuch.h b/lib/notmuch.h
index d8508dfd..15c9db40 100644
--- a/lib/notmuch.h
+++ b/lib/notmuch.h
@@ -204,15 +204,14 @@ notmuch_database_needs_upgrade (notmuch_database_t *database);
  *
  * The optional progress_notify callback can be used by the caller to
  * provide progress indication to the user. If non-NULL it will be
- * called periodically with 'count' as the number of messages upgraded
- * so far and 'total' the overall number of messages that will be
- * converted.
+ * called periodically with 'progress' as a floating-point value in
+ * the range of [0.0 .. 1.0] indicating the progress made so far in
+ * the upgrade process.
  */
 notmuch_status_t
 notmuch_database_upgrade (notmuch_database_t *database,
 			  void (*progress_notify) (void *closure,
-						   unsigned int count,
-						   unsigned int total),
+						   double progress),
 			  void *closure);
 
 /* Retrieve a directory object from the database for 'path'.
diff --git a/notmuch-new.c b/notmuch-new.c
index 55c3dc1d..b740ee2b 100644
--- a/notmuch-new.c
+++ b/notmuch-new.c
@@ -618,22 +618,26 @@ count_files (const char *path, int *count)
 
 static void
 upgrade_print_progress (void *closure,
-			unsigned int count,
-			unsigned int total)
+			double progress)
 {
     add_files_state_t *state = closure;
-    struct timeval tv_now;
-    double elapsed_overall, rate_overall, time_remaining;
 
-    gettimeofday (&tv_now, NULL);
+    printf ("Upgrading database: %.2f%% complete", progress * 100.0);
 
-    elapsed_overall = notmuch_time_elapsed (state->tv_start, tv_now);
-    rate_overall = count / elapsed_overall;
-    time_remaining = ((total - count) / rate_overall);
+    if (progress > 0) {
+	struct timeval tv_now;
+	double elapsed, time_remaining;
 
-    printf ("Upgraded %d of %d messages (", count, total);
-    notmuch_time_print_formatted_seconds (time_remaining);
-    printf (" remaining).      \r");
+	gettimeofday (&tv_now, NULL);
+
+	elapsed = notmuch_time_elapsed (state->tv_start, tv_now);
+	time_remaining = (elapsed / progress) * (1.0 - progress);
+	printf (" (");
+	notmuch_time_print_formatted_seconds (time_remaining);
+	printf (" remaining)");
+    }
+
+    printf (".      \r");
 
     fflush (stdout);
 }