diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index a3e049c..2a630e0 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -968,6 +968,15 @@ version = "1.0.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "df3b46402a9d5adb4c86a0cf463f42e19994e3ee891101b1841f30a545cb49a9"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "humansize"
+version = "2.1.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6cb51c9a029ddc91b07a787f1d86b53ccfa49b0e86688c946ebe8d3555685dd7"
+dependencies = [
+ "libm",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "humantime"
 version = "2.2.0"
@@ -1304,6 +1313,12 @@ version = "0.2.172"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d750af042f7ef4f724306de029d18836c26c1765a54a6a3f094cbd23a7267ffa"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "libm"
+version = "0.2.13"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "c9627da5196e5d8ed0b0495e61e518847578da83483c37288316d9b2e03a7f72"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "libmimalloc-sys"
 version = "0.1.42"
@@ -1491,6 +1506,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "cxx-build",
  "ed25519-dalek",
  "futures",
+ "humansize",
  "nix-compat",
  "object_store",
  "pkg-config",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 6ca052f..272be3b 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ bytes = "1.10.1"
 object_store = { version = "0.12.0", features = ["aws"] }
 ulid = "1.2.1"
 tracing-subscriber = "0.3.19"
+humansize = "2.1.3"
 
 [build-dependencies]
 cxx-build = "1.0"
diff --git a/src/push.rs b/src/push.rs
index 8943355..cd1373c 100644
--- a/src/push.rs
+++ b/src/push.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ use std::{
 
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
 use futures::future::join_all;
+use humansize::{DECIMAL, format_size};
 use nix_compat::narinfo::{self, SigningKey};
 use object_store::aws::{AmazonS3, AmazonS3Builder};
 use tokio::sync::{RwLock, Semaphore, mpsc};
@@ -157,34 +158,19 @@ impl Push {
 
     async fn upload(&'static self, mut rx: mpsc::Receiver<PathInfo>) -> Result<()> {
         let mut uploads = Vec::new();
-        let permits = Arc::new(Semaphore::new(16));
-        let big_permits = Arc::new(Semaphore::new(5));
+        let permits = Arc::new(Semaphore::new(32));
 
         loop {
             let permits = permits.clone();
-            let big_permits = big_permits.clone();
 
             if let Some(path_to_upload) = rx.recv().await {
-                debug!("upload permits available: {}", permits.available_permits());
-                let mut permit = permits.acquire_owned().await.unwrap();
+                let permit = permits.acquire_owned().await.unwrap();
 
                 uploads.push(tokio::spawn({
-                    // a large directory may have many files and end up causing "too many open files"
-                    if PathBuf::from(path_to_upload.absolute_path()).is_dir()
-                        && path_to_upload.nar_size > 5 * 1024 * 1024
-                    {
-                        debug!(
-                            "upload big permits available: {}",
-                            big_permits.available_permits()
-                        );
-                        // drop regular permit and take the big one
-                        permit = big_permits.acquire_owned().await.unwrap();
-                    }
-
                     println!(
                         "uploading: {} (size: {})",
                         path_to_upload.absolute_path(),
-                        path_to_upload.nar_size
+                        format_size(path_to_upload.nar_size, DECIMAL)
                     );
                     let uploader = Uploader::new(&self.signing_key, path_to_upload)?;
                     let s3 = self.s3.clone();