diff --git a/packages/api/src/elastic/pages.ts b/packages/api/src/elastic/pages.ts
index 20665c43e..53e8724f2 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/elastic/pages.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/elastic/pages.ts
@@ -789,8 +789,13 @@ export const updatePages = async (
       return null
     }
 
-    console.log('update pages task started', body.task)
-    return body.task as string
+    if (async) {
+      console.log('update pages task started', body.task)
+      return body.task as string
+    }
+
+    console.log('updated pages in elastic', body.updated)
+    return body.updated as string
   } catch (e) {
     console.log('failed to update pages in elastic', e)
     return null
diff --git a/packages/api/test/resolvers/article.test.ts b/packages/api/test/resolvers/article.test.ts
index 05c5acee2..90ad96c78 100644
--- a/packages/api/test/resolvers/article.test.ts
+++ b/packages/api/test/resolvers/article.test.ts
@@ -1267,13 +1267,11 @@ describe('Article API', () => {
           authToken
         ).expect(200)
         expect(res.body.data.bulkAction.success).to.be.true
-        // Wait for the archive to finish
-        await setTimeout(async () => {
-          const pages = await graphqlRequest(searchQuery(), authToken).expect(
-            200
-          )
-          expect(pages.body.data.search.pageInfo.totalCount).to.eql(0)
-        }, 1000)
+
+        await refreshIndex()
+
+        const pages = await graphqlRequest(searchQuery(), authToken).expect(200)
+        expect(pages.body.data.search.pageInfo.totalCount).to.eql(0)
       })
     })
 
@@ -1284,14 +1282,14 @@ describe('Article API', () => {
           authToken
         ).expect(200)
         expect(res.body.data.bulkAction.success).to.be.true
-        // Wait for the delete to finish
-        await setTimeout(async () => {
-          const pages = await graphqlRequest(
-            searchQuery('in:all'),
-            authToken
-          ).expect(200)
-          expect(pages.body.data.search.pageInfo.totalCount).to.eql(0)
-        }, 1000)
+
+        await refreshIndex()
+
+        const pages = await graphqlRequest(
+          searchQuery('in:all'),
+          authToken
+        ).expect(200)
+        expect(pages.body.data.search.pageInfo.totalCount).to.eql(0)
       })
     })
   })