Index: ext/fts5/fts5_hash.c
==================================================================
--- ext/fts5/fts5_hash.c
+++ ext/fts5/fts5_hash.c
@@ -74,10 +74,21 @@
   a[0] = (0x80 | (u8)(iVal >> 21));
   a[1] = (0x80 | (u8)(iVal >> 14));
   a[2] = (0x80 | (u8)(iVal >>  7));
   a[3] = (0x7F & (u8)(iVal));
 }
+
+static int fts5Get4ByteVarint(u8 *a, int *pnVarint){
+  int iRet = ((int)(a[0] & 0x7F) << 21) + ((int)(a[1] & 0x7F) << 14)
+       + ((int)(a[2] & 0x7F) <<  7) + ((int)(a[3]));
+  *pnVarint = (
+      (iRet & 0xFFFFFF80)==0 ? 1 : 
+      (iRet & 0xFFFFC000)==0 ? 2 :
+      (iRet & 0xFFE00000)==0 ? 3 : 4
+  );
+  return iRet;
+}
 
 /*
 ** Allocate a new hash table.
 */
 int sqlite3Fts5HashNew(Fts5Hash **ppNew, int *pnByte){
@@ -396,14 +407,16 @@
 
         /* Issue the xEntry callbacks */
         while( rc==SQLITE_OK && iOff<pList->nData ){
           i64 iDelta;             /* Rowid delta value */
           int nPoslist;           /* Size of position list in bytes */
+          int nVarint;
           iOff += getVarint(&pPtr[iOff], (u64*)&iDelta);
           iRowid += iDelta;
-          iOff += fts5GetVarint32(&pPtr[iOff], nPoslist);
-          rc = xEntry(pCtx, iRowid, &pPtr[iOff], nPoslist);
+          nPoslist = fts5Get4ByteVarint(&pPtr[iOff], &nVarint);
+          iOff += 4;
+          rc = xEntry(pCtx, iRowid, &pPtr[iOff-nVarint], nPoslist+nVarint);
           iOff += nPoslist;
         }
 
         /* Issue the term-done callback */
         if( rc==SQLITE_OK ) rc = xTermDone(pCtx);

Index: ext/fts5/fts5_index.c
==================================================================
--- ext/fts5/fts5_index.c
+++ ext/fts5/fts5_index.c
@@ -3389,17 +3389,22 @@
   const u8 *aPoslist, 
   int nPoslist
 ){
   Fts5FlushCtx *p = (Fts5FlushCtx*)pCtx;
   Fts5Index *pIdx = p->pIdx;
+
+#ifdef SQLITE_DEBUG
+  /* The poslist-size varint should already be at the start of the 
+  ** aPoslist/nPoslist buffer. This assert verifies that. */
+  int n, i;
+  i = fts5GetVarint32(aPoslist, n);
+  assert( nPoslist==(n+i) );
+#endif
 
   /* Append the rowid itself */
   fts5WriteAppendRowid(pIdx, &p->writer, iRowid);
 
-  /* Append the size of the position list in bytes */
-  fts5WriteAppendPoslistInt(pIdx, &p->writer, nPoslist);
-
   /* And the poslist data */
   fts5WriteAppendPoslistData(pIdx, &p->writer, aPoslist, nPoslist);
   return pIdx->rc;
 }
 

Index: ext/fts5/tool/loadfts5.tcl
==================================================================
--- ext/fts5/tool/loadfts5.tcl
+++ ext/fts5/tool/loadfts5.tcl
@@ -6,18 +6,27 @@
   close $fd
   return $data
 }
 
 set ::nRow 0
+set ::nRowPerDot 1000
+
 proc load_hierachy {dir} {
   foreach f [glob -nocomplain -dir $dir *] {
     if {$::O(limit) && $::nRow>=$::O(limit)} break
     if {[file isdir $f]} {
       load_hierachy $f
     } else {
       db eval { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES($f, loadfile($f)) }
       incr ::nRow
+
+      if {($::nRow % $::nRowPerDot)==0} {
+        puts -nonewline .
+        if {($::nRow % (65*$::nRowPerDot))==0} { puts "" }
+        flush stdout
+      }
+
     }
   }
 }
 
 proc usage {} {
@@ -79,11 +88,13 @@
 
 sqlite3 db [lindex $argv end-1]
 db func loadfile loadfile
 
 db transaction {
-  db eval "CREATE VIRTUAL TABLE t1 USING $O(vtab) (path, content$O(tok))"
+  catch {
+    db eval "CREATE VIRTUAL TABLE t1 USING $O(vtab) (path, content$O(tok))"
+  }
   if {$O(automerge)>=0} {
     if {$O(vtab) == "fts5"} {
       db eval { INSERT INTO t1(t1, rank) VALUES('automerge', $O(automerge)) }
     } else {
       db eval { INSERT INTO t1(t1) VALUES('automerge=' || $O(automerge)) }