diff --git a/shards/shards.go b/shards/shards.go
index e361095..98e51db 100644
--- a/shards/shards.go
+++ b/shards/shards.go
@@ -153,9 +153,8 @@
 // shards corresponding to a glob into memory.
 func NewDirectorySearcher(dir string) (zoekt.Searcher, error) {
 	ss := newShardedSearcher(int64(runtime.GOMAXPROCS(0)))
-	tl := &throttledLoader{
-		ss:       ss,
-		throttle: make(chan struct{}, runtime.GOMAXPROCS(0)),
+	tl := &loader{
+		ss: ss,
 	}
 	_, err := NewDirectoryWatcher(dir, tl)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -165,16 +164,12 @@
 	return ss, nil
 }
 
-// throttledLoader tries to load up to throttle shards in parallel.
-type throttledLoader struct {
-	ss       *shardedSearcher
-	throttle chan struct{}
+type loader struct {
+	ss *shardedSearcher
 }
 
-func (tl *throttledLoader) load(key string) {
-	tl.throttle <- struct{}{}
+func (tl *loader) load(key string) {
 	shard, err := loadShard(key)
-	<-tl.throttle
 	if err != nil {
 		metricShardsLoadFailedTotal.Inc()
 		log.Printf("reloading: %s, err %v ", key, err)
@@ -185,7 +180,7 @@
 	tl.ss.replace(key, shard)
 }
 
-func (tl *throttledLoader) drop(key string) {
+func (tl *loader) drop(key string) {
 	tl.ss.replace(key, nil)
 }
 
diff --git a/shards/watcher.go b/shards/watcher.go
index 7cc7094..4bdb8c1 100644
--- a/shards/watcher.go
+++ b/shards/watcher.go
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"sync"
+	"runtime"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify"
@@ -112,15 +112,18 @@
 		s.loader.drop(t)
 	}
 
-	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	// Limit amount of concurrent shard loads.
+	throttle := make(chan struct{}, runtime.GOMAXPROCS(0))
 	for _, t := range toLoad {
-		wg.Add(1)
+		throttle <- struct{}{}
 		go func(k string) {
 			s.loader.load(k)
-			wg.Done()
+			<-throttle
 		}(t)
 	}
-	wg.Wait()
+	for i := 0; i < cap(throttle); i++ {
+		throttle <- struct{}{}
+	}
 
 	return nil
 }