diff --git a/client/constants/messages.js b/client/constants/messages.js
index 46d120d..e788299 100644
--- a/client/constants/messages.js
+++ b/client/constants/messages.js
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ const messages = {
    * with new records, do
    * GET_EXISTING_OBJECTS -> RESOLVE_SYNC_RECORDS -> RESOLVED_SYNC_RECORDS
    */
-  FETCH_SYNC_RECORDS: _, /* @param Array.<string> categoryNames, @param {number} startAt (in seconds or milliseconds), @param {number=} maxRecords limit response to a given max number of records. set to 0 or falsey to not limit the response, @param {number} previousFetchTime (in milliseconds) */
+  FETCH_SYNC_RECORDS: _, /* @param Array.<string> categoryNames, @param {number} startAt (in seconds or milliseconds), @param {number=} maxRecords limit response to a given max number of records. set to 0 or falsey to not limit the response */
   /**
    * browser -> webview
    * sent to fetch all sync devices. webview responds with RESOLVED_SYNC_RECORDS.
diff --git a/client/requestUtil.js b/client/requestUtil.js
index 1cfeee3..a17b49c 100644
--- a/client/requestUtil.js
+++ b/client/requestUtil.js
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ RequestUtil.prototype.parseAWSResponse = function (bytes) {
  *  }} opts
  * @returns {Promise(Array.<Object>)}
  */
-RequestUtil.prototype.list = function (category, startAt, maxRecords, nextContinuationToken, previousFetchTime, opts = {}) {
+RequestUtil.prototype.list = function (category, startAt, maxRecords, nextContinuationToken, opts = {}) {
   const prefix = `${this.apiVersion}/${this.userId}/${category}`
   const options = {
     MaxKeys: maxRecords || 1000,
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ RequestUtil.prototype.list = function (category, startAt, maxRecords, nextContin
   }
   if (startAt) { options.StartAfter = `${prefix}/${startAt}` }
   return this.withRetry(() => {
-    if (this.shouldListObject(previousFetchTime, category) || opts.compaction) {
+    if (this.shouldListObject(startAt, category) || opts.compaction) {
       const s3ObjectsPromise = s3Helper.listObjects(this.s3, options, !!maxRecords)
       if (!opts.compaction) {
         return s3ObjectsPromise
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ RequestUtil.prototype.list = function (category, startAt, maxRecords, nextContin
           // wait for 15 seconds between batches
           setTimeout(() => {
             if (s3Objects.isTruncated) {
-              return this.list(category, startAt, maxRecords, s3Objects.nextContinuationToken, previousFetchTime, opts)
+              return this.list(category, startAt, maxRecords, s3Objects.nextContinuationToken, opts)
             }
             return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
               // compaction is done
@@ -307,14 +307,16 @@ const CATEGORIES_FOR_SQS = [proto.categories.BOOKMARKS, proto.categories.PREFERE
 
 /**
  * Checks do we need to use s3 list Object or SQS notifications
- * @param {number=} previousFetchTime - the previous fetch time. Could be seconds or milliseconds
+ * @param {number=} startAt return objects with timestamp >= startAt (e.g. 1482435340). Could be seconds or milliseconds
  * @param {string} category - the category ID
  * @returns {boolean}
 */
-RequestUtil.prototype.shouldListObject = function (previousFetchTime, category) {
+RequestUtil.prototype.shouldListObject = function (startAt, category) {
   const currentTime = new Date().getTime()
-  return !previousFetchTime ||
-      (currentTime - previousFetchTime) > parseInt(s3Helper.SQS_RETENTION, 10) * 1000 ||
+  const startAtToCheck = this.normalizeTimestampToMs(startAt, currentTime)
+
+  return !startAtToCheck ||
+      (currentTime - startAtToCheck) > parseInt(s3Helper.SQS_RETENTION, 10) * 1000 ||
       !CATEGORIES_FOR_SQS.includes(category) ||
       this.listInProgress === true
 }
@@ -336,20 +338,17 @@ RequestUtil.prototype.shouldRetireOldSQSQueue = function (createdTimestamp) {
 
 /**
  * Checks do we need to use s3 list Object or SQS notifications
- * @param {number=} timeToNormalize could be seconds or milliseconds
+ * @param {number=} startAt return objects with timestamp >= startAt (e.g. 1482435340). Could be seconds or milliseconds
  * @param {number=} currentTime currentTime in milliseconds
- * @returns {number=} the time for sure in milliseconds
+ * @returns {number=}
 */
-RequestUtil.prototype.normalizeTimestampToMs = function (timeToNormalize, currentTime) {
-  if (!timeToNormalize) {
-    return 0
-  }
-
-  if (timeToNormalize && currentTime.toString().length - timeToNormalize.toString().length >= 3) {
-    timeToNormalize *= 1000
+RequestUtil.prototype.normalizeTimestampToMs = function (startAt, currentTime) {
+  let startAtToCheck = startAt
+  if (startAtToCheck && currentTime.toString().length - startAtToCheck.toString().length >= 3) {
+    startAtToCheck *= 1000
   }
 
-  return timeToNormalize
+  return startAtToCheck
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/client/sync.js b/client/sync.js
index eba4ae5..3fbb37f 100644
--- a/client/sync.js
+++ b/client/sync.js
@@ -109,8 +109,8 @@ const startSync = (requester) => {
     return jsRecords
   }
 
-  ipc.on(messages.FETCH_SYNC_RECORDS, (e, categoryNames, startAt, limitResponse, previousFetchTime) => {
-    logSync(`fetching ${categoryNames} records after ${startAt} previous fetch is ${previousFetchTime}`)
+  ipc.on(messages.FETCH_SYNC_RECORDS, (e, categoryNames, startAt, limitResponse) => {
+    logSync(`fetching ${categoryNames} records after ${startAt}`)
     categoryNames.forEach((category) => {
       if (!proto.categories[category]) {
         throw new Error(`Unsupported sync category: ${category}`)
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ const startSync = (requester) => {
       if (nextContinuationTokens[category]) {
         continuationToken = nextContinuationTokens[category]
       }
-      requester.list(proto.categories[category], startAt, limitResponse, continuationToken, previousFetchTime).then((s3Objects) => {
+      requester.list(proto.categories[category], startAt, limitResponse, continuationToken).then((s3Objects) => {
         const jsRecords = getJSRecords(s3Objects.contents)
         logSync(`got ${jsRecords.length} decrypted records in ${category} after ${startAt}`)
         let lastRecordTimestamp
diff --git a/test/client/deviceIdV2.js b/test/client/deviceIdV2.js
index 6322a76..faab9ce 100644
--- a/test/client/deviceIdV2.js
+++ b/test/client/deviceIdV2.js
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ test('deviceId V2 migration', (t) => {
     const testCanListFromOldQueue = (t) => {
       t.test('can list notification from old SQS queue', (t) => {
         const currentTime = new Date().getTime()
-        requestUtil.list(proto.categories.BOOKMARKS, currentTime, 0, '', currentTime)
+        requestUtil.list(proto.categories.BOOKMARKS, currentTime)
           .then(s3Objects => requestUtil.s3ObjectsToRecords(s3Objects.contents))
           .then((response) => {
             t.equals(response.length, 1)
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ test('deviceId V2 migration', (t) => {
     const testCanListFromBothQueues = (t) => {
       t.test('can list notifications from new and old SQS queues', (t) => {
         const currentTime = new Date().getTime()
-        requestUtil.list(proto.categories.BOOKMARKS, currentTime, 0, '', currentTime)
+        requestUtil.list(proto.categories.BOOKMARKS, currentTime)
           .then(s3Objects => requestUtil.s3ObjectsToRecords(s3Objects.contents))
           .then((response) => {
             t.equals(response.length, 1)
diff --git a/test/client/requestUtil.js b/test/client/requestUtil.js
index ffa3a84..a3c88bd 100644
--- a/test/client/requestUtil.js
+++ b/test/client/requestUtil.js
@@ -52,25 +52,7 @@ test('client RequestUtil', (t) => {
     })
     const serializer = requestUtil.serializer
 
-    t.plan(3)
-
-    t.test('#should list object', (t) => {
-      t.plan(3)
-
-      t.equals(true,
-        requestUtil.shouldListObject(0, proto.categories.BOOKMARKS),
-        `${t.name}: previous fetch time is empty - use S3`)
-
-      t.equals(false,
-        requestUtil.shouldListObject(new Date().getTime()-1000*60, proto.categories.BOOKMARKS),
-        `${t.name}: previous fetch is not older than 24h - use SQS`)
-
-      const delta25hours = 1000*60*60*25
-      t.equals(true,
-        requestUtil.shouldListObject(new Date().getTime()-delta25hours, proto.categories.BOOKMARKS),
-        `${t.name}: previous fetch is older than 24h - use S3`)
-    })
-
+    t.plan(2)
     t.test('#put preference: device', (t) => {
       t.plan(2)
       const deviceId = new Uint8Array([0])
@@ -306,7 +288,7 @@ test('client RequestUtil', (t) => {
       const testCanListNotifications = (t) => {
         t.test(`${t.name} can list notification`, (t) => {
           let currentTime = new Date().getTime()
-          requestUtil.list(proto.categories.BOOKMARKS, currentTime, 1000, '', currentTime)
+          requestUtil.list(proto.categories.BOOKMARKS, currentTime)
             .then(s3Objects => requestUtil.s3ObjectsToRecords(s3Objects.contents))
             .then((response) => {
               const s3Record = response[1] ? response[1].record : response[1]
@@ -479,7 +461,7 @@ test('client RequestUtil', (t) => {
         }
         // limit batch size to 10 to test cross batch compaction for around 40
         // objects
-        requestUtil.list(proto.categories.BOOKMARKS, 0, 10, '', 0, {compaction: true,
+        requestUtil.list(proto.categories.BOOKMARKS, 0, 10, '', {compaction: true,
           compactionUpdateCb: compactionUpdate,
           compactionDoneCb: () => {
             console.log = consoleLogBak
@@ -492,7 +474,7 @@ test('client RequestUtil', (t) => {
               compactedRecord.filter(record => record.objectId.toString() === record2_update.objectId.toString()).length, 5)
             //  we already have 15 second timeout for each batch so no need to
             //  do another wait after compaction is done
-            requestUtil.list(proto.categories.BOOKMARKS, 0, 0, '', 0)
+            requestUtil.list(proto.categories.BOOKMARKS, 0, 0)
               .then(s3Objects => requestUtil.s3ObjectsToRecords(s3Objects.contents))
               .then((response) => {
                 t.equals(response.length, 2, `${t.name} check records number`)