diff --git a/swh/journal/client.py b/swh/journal/client.py
--- a/swh/journal/client.py
+++ b/swh/journal/client.py
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@
             for num, message in enumerate(self.consumer):
                 object_type = message.topic.split('.')[-1]
                 messages[object_type].append(message.value)
-                if num >= self.max_messages:
+                if num + 1 >= self.max_messages:
                     break
 
             self.process_objects(messages)
diff --git a/swh/journal/publisher.py b/swh/journal/publisher.py
--- a/swh/journal/publisher.py
+++ b/swh/journal/publisher.py
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@
             logging.debug('num: %s, object_type: %s, message: %s' % (
                 num, object_type, message))
             messages[object_type].append(message.value)
-            if num >= max_messages:
+            if num + 1 >= self.max_messages:
                 break
 
         new_objects = self.process_objects(messages)