diff --git a/tiifetch.tcl b/tiifetch.tcl
index e6231fc..24a5f75 100755
--- a/tiifetch.tcl
+++ b/tiifetch.tcl
@@ -290,8 +290,19 @@ proc fetchiidb {url echos dbfile dolog maxids} {
       if {$dolog eq 1} {puts "Fetching $globalcount new messages from $echoname..."}
       dict for {mgrpind mgrp} $idgroups { # iterate over groups to fetch the messages
         # get the message data in the bundle format
-        set msgbundle [getfile [string cat $url "/u/m/" [join $mgrp "/"]]]
-        set bdata [split $msgbundle "\n"]
+        set plen 0
+        set retries 4
+        while {$plen < $globalcount} {
+          set msgbundle [getfile [string cat $url "/u/m/" [join $mgrp "/"]]]
+          set bdata [lmap m [split $msgbundle "\n"] {
+            set m [string trim $m]
+            if {$m eq ""} {continue}
+            set m
+          }]
+          set plen [llength $bdata]
+          incr retries -1
+          if {$retries < 1} {break}
+        }
         foreach bline $bdata {
           set parts [split $bline ":"]
           if {[llength $parts] > 1} { # valid message