diff --git a/service/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/storage/MessagesManager.java b/service/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/storage/MessagesManager.java
index 18422b557..d11589e0e 100644
--- a/service/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/storage/MessagesManager.java
+++ b/service/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/storage/MessagesManager.java
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import static com.codahale.metrics.MetricRegistry.name;
 import com.codahale.metrics.Meter;
 import com.codahale.metrics.MetricRegistry;
 import com.codahale.metrics.SharedMetricRegistries;
-import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.UUID;
@@ -28,6 +27,7 @@ import org.whispersystems.textsecuregcm.metrics.MetricsUtil;
 import org.whispersystems.textsecuregcm.util.Constants;
 import org.whispersystems.textsecuregcm.util.Pair;
 import reactor.core.publisher.Flux;
+import reactor.core.scheduler.Schedulers;
 
 public class MessagesManager {
 
@@ -75,13 +75,20 @@ public class MessagesManager {
   public Pair<List<Envelope>, Boolean> getMessagesForDevice(UUID destinationUuid, long destinationDevice,
       boolean cachedMessagesOnly) {
 
-    final List<Envelope> envelopes = Flux.from(
-            getMessagesForDevice(destinationUuid, destinationDevice, RESULT_SET_CHUNK_SIZE, cachedMessagesOnly))
-        .take(RESULT_SET_CHUNK_SIZE, true)
-        .collectList()
-        .blockOptional().orElse(Collections.emptyList());
+    try {
+      final List<Envelope> envelopes = Flux.from(
+              getMessagesForDevice(destinationUuid, destinationDevice, RESULT_SET_CHUNK_SIZE, cachedMessagesOnly))
+          .take(RESULT_SET_CHUNK_SIZE, true)
+          .collectList()
+          .subscribeOn(Schedulers.boundedElastic())
+          .toFuture()
+          .get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+
+      return new Pair<>(envelopes, envelopes.size() >= RESULT_SET_CHUNK_SIZE);
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      throw new RuntimeException(e);
+    }
 
-    return new Pair<>(envelopes, envelopes.size() >= RESULT_SET_CHUNK_SIZE);
   }
 
   public Publisher<Envelope> getMessagesForDeviceReactive(UUID destinationUuid, long destinationDevice,