diff --git a/Persister/QueuePagerPersister.php b/Persister/QueuePagerPersister.php
index 9c2c471..378c182 100644
--- a/Persister/QueuePagerPersister.php
+++ b/Persister/QueuePagerPersister.php
@@ -119,10 +119,15 @@ public function insert(PagerInterface $pager, array $options = array())
         } while ($page <= $lastPage);
 
         $consumer = $this->context->createConsumer($replyQueue);
+        // Treat limit_overall_reply_time as an idle timeout rather than a hard overall cap: as long as
+        // replies keep arriving the consumers are making progress, so the deadline is pushed forward on
+        // each reply. This lets large indexes (whose population takes far longer than the timeout) finish
+        // while still aborting if the consumers go silent (e.g. all workers died).
         $limitTime = microtime(true) + $options['limit_overall_reply_time'];
         while ($sentCount) {
             if ($message = $consumer->receive($options['reply_receive_timeout'])) {
                 $sentCount--;
+                $limitTime = microtime(true) + $options['limit_overall_reply_time'];
 
                 $data = JSON::decode($message->getBody());
 
@@ -139,10 +144,8 @@ public function insert(PagerInterface $pager, array $options = array())
                     $data['options']
                 );
                 $this->dispatcher->dispatch($event);
-            }
-
-            if (microtime(true) > $limitTime) {
-                throw new \LogicException(sprintf('Overall reply time (%s seconds) has been exceeded.', $options['limit_overall_reply_time']));
+            } elseif (microtime(true) > $limitTime) {
+                throw new \LogicException(sprintf('No populate reply received within %s seconds; the consumers appear to be stuck.', $options['limit_overall_reply_time']));
             }
         }