diff --git a/cmd/syncthing/gui.go b/cmd/syncthing/gui.go
index cd7eaffd..e0afc7d3 100644
--- a/cmd/syncthing/gui.go
+++ b/cmd/syncthing/gui.go
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ func restGetNeed(m *model.Model, w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	var qs = r.URL.Query()
 	var repo = qs.Get("repo")
 
-	files := m.NeedFilesRepo(repo)
+	files := m.NeedFilesRepoLimited(repo, 100, 250) // max 100 files or 2500 blocks
 
 	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json; charset=utf-8")
 	json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(files)
diff --git a/model/model.go b/model/model.go
index cbbe5e9b..8356954f 100644
--- a/model/model.go
+++ b/model/model.go
@@ -324,15 +324,19 @@ func (m *Model) NeedSize(repo string) (files int, bytes int64) {
 	return
 }
 
-// NeedFiles returns the list of currently needed files
-func (m *Model) NeedFilesRepo(repo string) []protocol.FileInfo {
+// NeedFiles returns the list of currently needed files, stopping at maxFiles
+// files or maxBlocks blocks. Limits <= 0 are ignored.
+func (m *Model) NeedFilesRepoLimited(repo string, maxFiles, maxBlocks int) []protocol.FileInfo {
 	m.rmut.RLock()
 	defer m.rmut.RUnlock()
+	nblocks := 0
 	if rf, ok := m.repoFiles[repo]; ok {
-		fs := make([]protocol.FileInfo, 0, indexBatchSize)
+		fs := make([]protocol.FileInfo, 0, maxFiles)
 		rf.WithNeed(protocol.LocalNodeID, func(f protocol.FileIntf) bool {
-			fs = append(fs, f.(protocol.FileInfo))
-			return len(fs) < indexBatchSize
+			fi := f.(protocol.FileInfo)
+			fs = append(fs, fi)
+			nblocks += len(fi.Blocks)
+			return (maxFiles <= 0 || len(fs) < maxFiles) && (maxBlocks <= 0 || nblocks < maxBlocks)
 		})
 		return fs
 	}
diff --git a/model/puller.go b/model/puller.go
index 0024fba3..a7dee96a 100644
--- a/model/puller.go
+++ b/model/puller.go
@@ -61,6 +61,11 @@ type openFile struct {
 
 type activityMap map[protocol.NodeID]int
 
+// Queue about this many blocks each puller iteration. More blocks means
+// longer iterations and better efficiency; fewer blocks reduce memory
+// consumption. 1000 blocks ~= 1000 * 128 KiB ~= 125 MiB of data.
+const pullIterationBlocks = 1000
+
 func (m activityMap) leastBusyNode(availability []protocol.NodeID, isValid func(protocol.NodeID) bool) protocol.NodeID {
 	var low int = 2<<30 - 1
 	var selected protocol.NodeID
@@ -702,7 +707,7 @@ func (p *puller) queueNeededBlocks(prevVer uint64) (uint64, int) {
 
 	queued := 0
 	files := make([]protocol.FileInfo, 0, indexBatchSize)
-	for _, f := range p.model.NeedFilesRepo(p.repoCfg.ID) {
+	for _, f := range p.model.NeedFilesRepoLimited(p.repoCfg.ID, indexBatchSize, pullIterationBlocks) {
 		if _, ok := p.openFiles[f.Name]; ok {
 			continue
 		}