diff --git a/swh/lister/bitbucket/lister.py b/swh/lister/bitbucket/lister.py
--- a/swh/lister/bitbucket/lister.py
+++ b/swh/lister/bitbucket/lister.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import logging
 import iso8601
 
+from datetime import timedelta
 from urllib import parse
 
 from swh.lister.bitbucket.models import BitBucketModel
@@ -30,6 +31,16 @@
         if per_page != DEFAULT_BITBUCKET_PAGE:
             self.PATH_TEMPLATE = '%s&pagelen=%s' % (
                 self.PATH_TEMPLATE, per_page)
+        # hack: to determine incremental lister's starting point
+        try:
+            self.last_index = super().db_last_index()
+        except Exception:
+            self.last_index = None
+        # variable to work around pagination caveat
+        self.last_seen_index = None
+        # to stay consistent with prior behavior (20 * 10 repositories then)
+        self.flush_packet_db = int(
+            (self.flush_packet_db * DEFAULT_BITBUCKET_PAGE) / per_page)
 
     def get_model_from_repo(self, repo):
         return {
@@ -42,28 +53,62 @@
             'origin_type': repo['scm'],
         }
 
+    def _heuristic_next_index(self, date_index):
+        """Alter slightly the next index date by 1 day in the future.
+
+        Args:
+            date_index (datetime): The current date as index
+
+        Return:
+            datetime shifted to 1 day in the future
+
+        """
+        delta = timedelta(days=+1)
+        return date_index + delta
+
     def get_next_target_from_response(self, response):
+        """This will read the next link from the api response. It so happens
+           that sometimes, the next link stays the same between consecutive api
+           calls... Thus stopping the listing...
+
+           This tries to work around that by shifting the next index detected
+           to 1 day in the future (creating a hole). Experiments below one day
+           bear no success.
+
+        Returns:
+            next date (isoformatted) to use as pagination index
+
+        """
         body = response.json()
-        if 'next' in body:
-            return parse.unquote(body['next'].split('after=')[1])
+        next_ = body.get('next')
+
+        if next_ is not None:
+            next_date = iso8601.parse_date(
+                parse.unquote(next_.split('after=')[1]))
+            if self.last_seen_index is not None and \
+               self.last_seen_index >= next_date:
+                next_date = self._heuristic_next_index(next_date)
+
+            self.last_seen_index = next_date
+            return next_date.isoformat()
 
     def transport_response_simplified(self, response):
         repos = response.json()['values']
         return [self.get_model_from_repo(repo) for repo in repos]
 
     def db_first_index(self):
-        """For the first time listing, there is no data in db, so fallback to the
-        bitbucket starting year.
+        """For the first time listing, there is no data in db, so fallback to
+           the bitbucket starting year.
 
         """
         return super().db_first_index() or '2008-01-01T00:00:00Z'
 
     def db_last_index(self):
-        """For the first time listing, there is no data in db, so fallback to the time
-           of the first run as max date.
+        """For the first time listing (full lister), there is no data in db, so
+           fallback to the time of the first run as max date.
 
         """
-        return super().db_last_index() or datetime.datetime.now(
+        return self.last_index or datetime.datetime.now(
             tz=datetime.timezone.utc).isoformat()
 
     def request_uri(self, identifier):
diff --git a/swh/lister/bitbucket/tasks.py b/swh/lister/bitbucket/tasks.py
--- a/swh/lister/bitbucket/tasks.py
+++ b/swh/lister/bitbucket/tasks.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 @app.task(name=__name__ + '.IncrementalBitBucketLister')
 def incremental_bitbucket_lister(**lister_args):
     lister = new_lister(**lister_args)
-    lister.run(min_bound=lister.db_last_index(), max_bound=None)
+    lister.run(min_bound=lister.last_index, max_bound=None)
 
 
 @app.task(name=__name__ + '.RangeBitBucketLister')
diff --git a/swh/lister/core/indexing_lister.py b/swh/lister/core/indexing_lister.py
--- a/swh/lister/core/indexing_lister.py
+++ b/swh/lister/core/indexing_lister.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright (C) 2015-2017 the Software Heritage developers
+# Copyright (C) 2015-2019 the Software Heritage developers
 # License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
 # See top-level LICENSE file for more information
 
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 
 
 class IndexingLister(ListerBase):
+    flush_packet_db = 20
+
     """Lister* intermediate class for any service that follows the pattern:
 
     - The service must report at least one stable unique identifier, known
@@ -148,8 +150,6 @@
         t = self.db_session.query(func.min(self.MODEL.indexable)).first()
         if t:
             return t[0]
-        else:
-            return None
 
     def db_last_index(self):
         """Look in the db for the largest indexable value
@@ -160,8 +160,6 @@
         t = self.db_session.query(func.max(self.MODEL.indexable)).first()
         if t:
             return t[0]
-        else:
-            return None
 
     def disable_deleted_repo_tasks(self, start, end, keep_these):
         """Disable tasks for repos that no longer exist between start and end.
@@ -222,11 +220,12 @@
                                 index)
                     return
                 index = next_index
+                logger.debug('Index: %s', index)
                 yield i
 
         for i in ingest_indexes():
-            if (i % 20) == 0:
-                logger.info('flushing updates')
+            if (i % self.flush_packet_db) == 0:
+                logger.info('flushing updates at index %s', i)
                 self.db_session.commit()
                 self.db_session = self.mk_session()