diff --git a/src/routes/api/login.js b/src/routes/api/login.js
index 3a520878c..8027c11ed 100644
--- a/src/routes/api/login.js
+++ b/src/routes/api/login.js
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ async function loginSync(req) {
 
     return {
         sourceId: sourceIdService.getCurrentSourceId(),
-        maxSyncId: await sql.getValue("SELECT MAX(id) FROM sync WHERE isSynced = 1")
+        maxSyncId: await sql.getValue("SELECT COALESCE(MAX(id), 0) FROM sync WHERE isSynced = 1")
     };
 }
 
diff --git a/src/routes/api/sync.js b/src/routes/api/sync.js
index 88a3c5f40..8f8548017 100644
--- a/src/routes/api/sync.js
+++ b/src/routes/api/sync.js
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ async function getStats() {
 async function checkSync() {
     return {
         entityHashes: await contentHashService.getEntityHashes(),
-        maxSyncId: await sql.getValue('SELECT MAX(id) FROM sync WHERE isSynced = 1')
+        maxSyncId: await sql.getValue('SELECT COALESCE(MAX(id), 0) FROM sync WHERE isSynced = 1')
     };
 }
 
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ async function getChanged(req) {
 
     const ret = {
         syncs: await syncService.getSyncRecords(syncs),
-        maxSyncId: await sql.getValue('SELECT MAX(id) FROM sync WHERE isSynced = 1')
+        maxSyncId: await sql.getValue('SELECT COALESCE(MAX(id), 0) FROM sync WHERE isSynced = 1')
     };
 
     if (ret.syncs.length > 0) {
diff --git a/src/routes/index.js b/src/routes/index.js
index 0f01699bf..28bd0e290 100644
--- a/src/routes/index.js
+++ b/src/routes/index.js
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ async function index(req, res) {
         treeFontSize: parseInt(options.treeFontSize),
         detailFontSize: parseInt(options.detailFontSize),
         sourceId: await sourceIdService.generateSourceId(),
-        maxSyncIdAtLoad: await sql.getValue("SELECT MAX(id) FROM sync"),
+        maxSyncIdAtLoad: await sql.getValue("SELECT COALESCE(MAX(id), 0) FROM sync"),
         instanceName: config.General ? config.General.instanceName : null,
         appCssNoteIds: await getAppCssNoteIds(),
         isDev: env.isDev(),
diff --git a/src/services/sync.js b/src/services/sync.js
index 30ba41053..13eae7426 100644
--- a/src/services/sync.js
+++ b/src/services/sync.js
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ async function doLogin() {
 }
 
 async function pullSync(syncContext) {
-    let appliedPulls = 0;
+    let atLeastOnePullApplied = false;
 
     while (true) {
         const lastSyncedPull = await getLastSyncedPull();
@@ -150,10 +150,10 @@ async function pullSync(syncContext) {
         await sql.transactional(async () => {
             for (const {sync, entity} of rows) {
                 if (!sourceIdService.isLocalSourceId(sync.sourceId)) {
-                    if (appliedPulls === 0 && sync.entity !== 'recent_notes') { // send only for first
+                    if (!atLeastOnePullApplied && sync.entity !== 'recent_notes') { // send only for first
                         ws.syncPullInProgress();
 
-                        appliedPulls++;
+                        atLeastOnePullApplied = true;
                     }
 
                     await syncUpdateService.updateEntity(sync, entity, syncContext.sourceId);
@@ -165,10 +165,10 @@ async function pullSync(syncContext) {
             await setLastSyncedPull(rows[rows.length - 1].sync.id);
         });
 
-        log.info(`Pulled ${rows.length} changes in ${pulledDate - startDate}ms from ${changesUri} and applied them in ${Date.now() - pulledDate}ms`);
+        log.info(`Pulled ${rows.length} changes starting at syncId=${lastSyncedPull} in ${pulledDate - startDate}ms and applied them in ${Date.now() - pulledDate}ms, ${stats.outstandingPulls} outstanding pulls`);
     }
 
-    if (appliedPulls > 0) {
+    if (atLeastOnePullApplied) {
         ws.syncPullFinished();
     }
 
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ async function updatePushStats() {
 }
 
 async function getMaxSyncId() {
-    return await sql.getValue('SELECT MAX(id) FROM sync');
+    return await sql.getValue('SELECT COALESCE(MAX(id), 0) FROM sync');
 }
 
 sqlInit.dbReady.then(async () => {