diff --git a/src/wallet/wallet2.cpp b/src/wallet/wallet2.cpp
index 42e2f1d41..ff70f90b5 100644
--- a/src/wallet/wallet2.cpp
+++ b/src/wallet/wallet2.cpp
@@ -3901,7 +3901,7 @@ std::shared_ptr<std::map<std::pair<uint64_t, uint64_t>, size_t>> wallet2::create
   return cache;
 }
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-void wallet2::refresh(bool trusted_daemon, uint64_t start_height, uint64_t & blocks_fetched, bool& received_money, bool check_pool, bool try_incremental)
+void wallet2::refresh(bool trusted_daemon, uint64_t start_height, uint64_t & blocks_fetched, bool& received_money, bool check_pool, uint64_t max_blocks, bool try_incremental)
 {
   if (m_offline)
   {
@@ -3996,7 +3996,7 @@ void wallet2::refresh(bool trusted_daemon, uint64_t start_height, uint64_t & blo
   // infer when we get an incoming output
 
   bool first = true, last = false;
-  while(m_run.load(std::memory_order_relaxed))
+  while(m_run.load(std::memory_order_relaxed) && blocks_fetched < max_blocks)
   {
     uint64_t next_blocks_start_height;
     std::vector<cryptonote::block_complete_entry> next_blocks;
diff --git a/src/wallet/wallet2.h b/src/wallet/wallet2.h
index baeffe096..ce879fa1e 100644
--- a/src/wallet/wallet2.h
+++ b/src/wallet/wallet2.h
@@ -1048,7 +1048,7 @@ private:
     bool is_deprecated() const;
     void refresh(bool trusted_daemon);
     void refresh(bool trusted_daemon, uint64_t start_height, uint64_t & blocks_fetched);
-    void refresh(bool trusted_daemon, uint64_t start_height, uint64_t & blocks_fetched, bool& received_money, bool check_pool = true, bool try_incremental = true);
+    void refresh(bool trusted_daemon, uint64_t start_height, uint64_t & blocks_fetched, bool& received_money, bool check_pool = true, uint64_t max_blocks = std::numeric_limits<uint64_t>::max(), bool try_incremental = true);
     bool refresh(bool trusted_daemon, uint64_t & blocks_fetched, bool& received_money, bool& ok);
 
     void set_refresh_type(RefreshType refresh_type) { m_refresh_type = refresh_type; }
diff --git a/src/wallet/wallet_rpc_server.cpp b/src/wallet/wallet_rpc_server.cpp
index 0c30394b1..f08ae82d6 100644
--- a/src/wallet/wallet_rpc_server.cpp
+++ b/src/wallet/wallet_rpc_server.cpp
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ using namespace epee;
 #define MONERO_DEFAULT_LOG_CATEGORY "wallet.rpc"
 
 #define DEFAULT_AUTO_REFRESH_PERIOD 20 // seconds
+#define REFRESH_INFICATIVE_BLOCK_CHUNK_SIZE 256    // just to split refresh in separate calls to play nicer with other threads
 
 #define CHECK_MULTISIG_ENABLED() \
   do \
@@ -153,11 +154,14 @@ namespace tools
       uint64_t blocks_fetched = 0;
       try {
         bool received_money = false;
-        if (m_wallet) m_wallet->refresh(m_wallet->is_trusted_daemon(), 0, blocks_fetched, received_money, true, true);
+        if (m_wallet) m_wallet->refresh(m_wallet->is_trusted_daemon(), 0, blocks_fetched, received_money, true, REFRESH_INFICATIVE_BLOCK_CHUNK_SIZE, true);
       } catch (const std::exception& ex) {
         LOG_ERROR("Exception at while refreshing, what=" << ex.what());
       }
-      m_last_auto_refresh_time = boost::posix_time::microsec_clock::universal_time();
+      // if we got the max amount of blocks, do not set the last refresh time, we did only part of the refresh and will
+      // continue asap, and only set the last refresh time once the refresh is actually finished
+      if (blocks_fetched < REFRESH_INFICATIVE_BLOCK_CHUNK_SIZE)
+        m_last_auto_refresh_time = boost::posix_time::microsec_clock::universal_time();
       return true;
     }, 1000);
     m_net_server.add_idle_handler([this](){