diff --git a/app/services/pending_ladder.ts b/app/services/pending_ladder.ts
index 05c4cf8..3416c16 100644
--- a/app/services/pending_ladder.ts
+++ b/app/services/pending_ladder.ts
@@ -438,8 +438,9 @@ class PendingLadder {
     for (const s of signatures) {
       let rows: any[]
       do {
-        // The poster's rows by the signature index, a tool's and group's by the ladder's: never a test on the rows,
-        // which was a scan of the whole table per signature on the HDD (LOG.md (134)).
+        // The poster's rows by the signature index (on the poster's md5: a poster can be longer than a btree
+        // key), a tool's and group's by the ladder's: never a test on the rows, which was a scan of the whole
+        // table per signature on the HDD (LOG.md (134)).
         ;({ rows } =
           s.poster === ''
             ? await db.rawQuery(
@@ -449,8 +450,8 @@ class PendingLadder {
               )
             : await db.rawQuery(
                 `SELECT encode(release_key, 'hex') AS release_key FROM pending_releases
-                 WHERE status = ? AND group_id = ? AND tool = ? AND poster = ? LIMIT ?`,
-                [PENDING.waiting, s.group_id, s.tool, s.poster, limit]
+                 WHERE status = ? AND group_id = ? AND tool = ? AND md5(poster) = md5(?::text) AND poster = ? LIMIT ?`,
+                [PENDING.waiting, s.group_id, s.tool, s.poster, s.poster, limit]
               ))
         discarded += await this.discardKeys(rows, samplePercent)
       } while (rows.length === limit && rows.some((r) => !explored(r.release_key, samplePercent)))
diff --git a/database/migrations/1770000007200_pending_signature_index.ts b/database/migrations/1770000007200_pending_signature_index.ts
index 59b38a2..77fc623 100644
--- a/database/migrations/1770000007200_pending_signature_index.ts
+++ b/database/migrations/1770000007200_pending_signature_index.ts
@@ -3,14 +3,17 @@ import { BaseSchema } from '@adonisjs/lucid/schema'
 /**
  * The discard sweep of a dropped signature (tool, group, poster) read the whole pending_releases table per
  * signature: the planner took a parallel seq scan over the poster test, four minutes on the HDD that starved the
- * lanes' claims (LOG.md (134)). The waiting rows by signature make it an index range.
+ * lanes' claims (LOG.md (134)). The waiting rows by signature make it an index range. By the poster's md5: a
+ * poster of 2.7 kB broke the first build (a btree key is at most a third of a page), which left an invalid index
+ * behind that IF NOT EXISTS would have taken for the real one; the drop clears it.
  */
 export default class extends BaseSchema {
   static disableTransactions = true
 
   async up() {
+    this.schema.raw(`DROP INDEX CONCURRENTLY IF EXISTS pending_releases_signature_idx`)
     this.schema.raw(
-      `CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY IF NOT EXISTS pending_releases_signature_idx ON pending_releases (group_id, tool, poster) WHERE status = 0`
+      `CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY IF NOT EXISTS pending_releases_signature_idx ON pending_releases (group_id, tool, md5(poster)) WHERE status = 0`
     )
   }