diff --git a/tools/dbcounter/dbcounter.py b/tools/dbcounter/dbcounter.py
index 0ed7bb813a..86e5529c97 100644
--- a/tools/dbcounter/dbcounter.py
+++ b/tools/dbcounter/dbcounter.py
@@ -96,20 +96,18 @@ class LogCursorEventsPlugin(CreateEnginePlugin):
         This reads "hists" from from a queue fed by _log_event() and
         writes (db,op)+=count stats to the database after ten seconds
         of no activity to avoid triggering a write for every SELECT
-        call. Write no less often than every thirty seconds and/or 100
-        pending hits to avoid being starved by constant activity.
+        call. Write no less often than every sixty seconds to avoid being
+        starved by constant activity.
         """
         LOG.debug('[%i] Writer thread running' % os.getpid())
         while True:
             to_write = {}
-            total = 0
             last = time.time()
-            while time.time() - last < 30 and total < 100:
+            while time.time() - last < 60:
                 try:
                     item = self.queue.get(timeout=10)
                     to_write.setdefault(item, 0)
                     to_write[item] += 1
-                    total += 1
                 except queue.Empty:
                     break