lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm                | 3 ++-
 lib/PublicInbox/LeiExportKw.pm        | 1 -
 lib/PublicInbox/LeiImport.pm          | 1 -
 lib/PublicInbox/LeiLsMailSource.pm    | 3 +--
 lib/PublicInbox/LeiLsSearch.pm        | 2 +-
 lib/PublicInbox/LeiRefreshMailSync.pm | 4 +---
 lib/PublicInbox/LeiRm.pm              | 2 +-
 lib/PublicInbox/LeiTag.pm             | 3 +--

diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm
index 9794497b6e3e03a4612a139d7f37f335bb673b49..41e761f8aabf939e81af2afb0b82bf7058b83e5e 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ 	verbose|v+ incremental!), @net_opt, # mainly for --proxy=
 	 @c_opt ],
 'import' => [ 'LOCATION...|--stdin',
 	'one-time import/update from URL or filesystem',
-	qw(stdin| offset=i recursive|r exclude=s include|I=s jobs=s new-only
+	qw(stdin| offset=i recursive|r exclude=s include|I=s new-only
 	lock=s@ in-format|F=s kw! verbose|v+ incremental! mail-sync!),
 	@net_opt, @c_opt ],
 'forget-mail-sync' => [ 'LOCATION...',
@@ -627,6 +627,7 @@ 	$ops->{''} //= [ $wq->can('_lei_wq_eof') || \&wq_eof, $lei ];
 	my $end = $lei->pkt_op_pair;
 	my $ident = $wq->{-wq_ident} // "lei-$lei->{cmd} worker";
 	$flds->{lei} = $lei;
+	$wq->{-wq_nr_workers} //= $jobs; # lock, no incrementing
 	$wq->wq_workers_start($ident, $jobs, $lei->oldset, $flds);
 	delete $lei->{pkt_op_p};
 	my $op_c = delete $lei->{pkt_op_c};
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiExportKw.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiExportKw.pm
index d37f3768202619d434060981580ae27b0d2a76e0..8b8aa373a37199c1705835f8deb254c7e43f0f5b 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiExportKw.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiExportKw.pm
@@ -124,7 +124,6 @@ 	undef $lms; # for fork
 	my $ops = {};
 	$sto->write_prepare($lei);
 	$lei->{auth}->op_merge($ops, $self) if $lei->{auth};
-	$self->{-wq_nr_workers} = $j // 1; # locked
 	(my $op_c, $ops) = $lei->workers_start($self, $j, $ops);
 	$lei->{wq1} = $self;
 	$lei->{-err_type} = 'non-fatal';
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiImport.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiImport.pm
index 7c563bd8c8e79e864325cd0833e88d59406a120e..b1cb3940ee365cfe7f65e26585b53658cb576ea8 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiImport.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiImport.pm
@@ -101,7 +101,6 @@ 		$lei->err('# --new-only is only for IMAP');
 	}
 	my $ops = {};
 	$lei->{auth}->op_merge($ops, $self) if $lei->{auth};
-	$self->{-wq_nr_workers} = $j // 1; # locked
 	$lei->{-eml_noisy} = 1;
 	(my $op_c, $ops) = $lei->workers_start($self, $j, $ops);
 	$lei->{wq1} = $self;
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiLsMailSource.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiLsMailSource.pm
index f012e10e89c2d10a71da50414be285ebe4a65d0f..bcb1838e9e689401fefb8913cb2ccbd80d8dc06e 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiLsMailSource.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiLsMailSource.pm
@@ -96,8 +96,7 @@ 	$self->prepare_inputs($lei, [ $url ]) or return;
 	$lei->start_pager if -t $lei->{1};
 	my $ops = {};
 	$lei->{auth}->op_merge($ops, $self);
-	my $j = $self->{-wq_nr_workers} = 1; # locked
-	(my $op_c, $ops) = $lei->workers_start($self, $j, $ops);
+	(my $op_c, $ops) = $lei->workers_start($self, 1, $ops);
 	$lei->{wq1} = $self;
 	$lei->{-err_type} = 'non-fatal';
 	net_merge_all_done($self) unless $lei->{auth};
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiLsSearch.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiLsSearch.pm
index 7013613523e33acfcfcfadc305bf136302756e68..aebf018429d3949ca9e2de8704d8ce680604e7f0 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiLsSearch.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiLsSearch.pm
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ }
 
 sub bg_worker ($$$) {
 	my ($lei, $pfx, $json) = @_;
-	my $self = bless { -wq_nr_workers => 1, json => $json }, __PACKAGE__;
+	my $self = bless { json => $json }, __PACKAGE__;
 	my ($op_c, $ops) = $lei->workers_start($self, 1);
 	$lei->{wq1} = $self;
 	$self->wq_io_do('do_ls_search_long', [], $pfx);
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiRefreshMailSync.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiRefreshMailSync.pm
index 09a7ead06a0a43c1078b93816a826aa5a3019516..cdd997253a609dc5871bdb7e9b17c88aa1468bce 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiRefreshMailSync.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiRefreshMailSync.pm
@@ -84,11 +84,9 @@ 	$sto->write_prepare($lei);
 	my $self = bless { missing_ok => 1 }, __PACKAGE__;
 	$lei->{opt}->{'mail-sync'} = 1; # for prepare_inputs
 	$self->prepare_inputs($lei, \@folders) or return;
-	my $j = $lei->{opt}->{jobs} || scalar(@{$self->{inputs}}) || 1;
 	my $ops = {};
 	$lei->{auth}->op_merge($ops, $self) if $lei->{auth};
-	$self->{-wq_nr_workers} = $j // 1; # locked
-	(my $op_c, $ops) = $lei->workers_start($self, $j, $ops);
+	(my $op_c, $ops) = $lei->workers_start($self, 1, $ops);
 	$lei->{wq1} = $self;
 	$lei->{-err_type} = 'non-fatal';
 	net_merge_all_done($self) unless $lei->{auth};
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiRm.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiRm.pm
index 778fa1de92763a14e49ff2e917048ecc86bb2a37..3371f3ed00e469f66233567ff50c782532514a92 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiRm.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiRm.pm
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ sub lei_rm {
 	my ($lei, @inputs) = @_;
 	$lei->_lei_store(1)->write_prepare($lei);
 	$lei->{opt}->{'in-format'} //= 'eml';
-	my $self = bless { -wq_nr_workers => 1 }, __PACKAGE__;
+	my $self = bless {}, __PACKAGE__;
 	$self->prepare_inputs($lei, \@inputs) or return;
 	my ($op_c, $ops) = $lei->workers_start($self, 1);
 	$lei->{wq1} = $self;
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiTag.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiTag.pm
index 44d77b881c04136c1f190e3e166298e100fd101c..c4f5ecffb575168044b216139874e2d8a14c5e2d 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiTag.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiTag.pm
@@ -50,8 +50,7 @@ 	grep(defined, @$vmd_mod{qw(+kw +L -L -kw)}) or
 		return $lei->fail('no keywords or labels specified');
 	my $ops = {};
 	$lei->{auth}->op_merge($ops, $self) if $lei->{auth};
-	my $j = $self->{-wq_nr_workers} = 1; # locked for now
-	(my $op_c, $ops) = $lei->workers_start($self, $j, $ops);
+	(my $op_c, $ops) = $lei->workers_start($self, 1, $ops);
 	$lei->{wq1} = $self;
 	$lei->{-err_type} = 'non-fatal';
 	net_merge_all_done($self) unless $lei->{auth};