diff --git a/perl/lib/Nix/CopyClosure.pm b/perl/lib/Nix/CopyClosure.pm
index 79c6dfcccbf..69e5940289a 100644
--- a/perl/lib/Nix/CopyClosure.pm
+++ b/perl/lib/Nix/CopyClosure.pm
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ sub copyTo {
 
     $compressor = "$compressor |" if $compressor ne "";
     $decompressor = "$decompressor |" if $decompressor ne "";
-    $progressViewer = "$progressViewer |" if $progressViewer ne "";
 
     # Get the closure of this path.
     my @closure = reverse(topoSortPaths(computeFSClosure(0, $includeOutputs,
@@ -35,7 +34,9 @@ sub copyTo {
     if (scalar @missing > 0) {
         print STDERR "copying ", scalar @missing, " missing paths to ‘$sshHost’...\n";
         unless ($dryRun) {
-            open SSH, "| $compressor $progressViewer ssh $sshHost @{$sshOpts} '$decompressor nix-store --import' > /dev/null" or die;
+            my $size = `nix-store -q --size @missing | awk '{n+=\$1} END {printf n}'`;
+            $progressViewer = "$progressViewer -s $size |" if $progressViewer ne "";
+            open SSH, "| $compressor ssh $sshHost @{$sshOpts} '$decompressor $progressViewer nix-store --import' > /dev/null" or die;
             exportPaths(fileno(SSH), $sign, @missing);
             close SSH or die "copying store paths to remote machine `$sshHost' failed: $?";
         }
diff --git a/scripts/build-remote.pl.in b/scripts/build-remote.pl.in
index fca00241bf1..da5561cd219 100755
--- a/scripts/build-remote.pl.in
+++ b/scripts/build-remote.pl.in
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ if ($@) {
     print STDERR "somebody is hogging $uploadLock, continuing...\n";
     unlink $uploadLock;
 }
-Nix::CopyClosure::copyTo($hostName, [ @sshOpts ], [ $drvPath, @inputs ], "", "", 0, 0, $maybeSign ne "");
+Nix::CopyClosure::copyTo($hostName, [ @sshOpts ], [ $drvPath, @inputs ], "", "", 0, 0, $maybeSign ne "", "");
 close UPLOADLOCK;
 
 
diff --git a/scripts/nix-copy-closure.in b/scripts/nix-copy-closure.in
index 12a83cff979..e0ff23ab728 100755
--- a/scripts/nix-copy-closure.in
+++ b/scripts/nix-copy-closure.in
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ while (@ARGV) {
         $includeOutputs = 1;
     }
     elsif ($arg eq "--show-progress") {
-        $progressViewer = "@pv@";
+        $progressViewer = "-apebt";
     }
     elsif ($arg eq "--dry-run") {
         $dryRun = 1;
@@ -81,10 +81,12 @@ openSSHConnection $sshHost or die "$0: unable to start SSH\n";
 
 
 if ($toMode) { # Copy TO the remote machine.
+    $progressViewer = "pv $progressViewer" if $progressViewer ne "";
     Nix::CopyClosure::copyTo($sshHost, [ @sshOpts ], [ @storePaths ], $compressor, $decompressor, $includeOutputs, $dryRun, $sign, $progressViewer);
 }
 
 else { # Copy FROM the remote machine.
+    $progressViewer = "@pv@ $progressViewer" if $progressViewer ne "";
 
     # Query the closure of the given store paths on the remote
     # machine.  Paths are assumed to be store paths; there is no
@@ -106,10 +108,11 @@ else { # Copy FROM the remote machine.
         print STDERR "copying ", scalar @missing, " missing paths from ‘$sshHost’...\n";
         $compressor = "| $compressor" if $compressor ne "";
         $decompressor = "$decompressor |" if $decompressor ne "";
-	$progressViewer = "$progressViewer |" if $progressViewer ne "";
+	my $size = `ssh $sshHost @sshOpts "nix-store -q --size $extraOpts @missing | awk '{n+=\\\$1} END {printf n}'"`;
+	$progressViewer = "$progressViewer -s $size |" if $progressViewer ne "";
         unless ($dryRun) {
             my $extraOpts = $sign ? "--sign" : "";
-            system("set -f; ssh $sshHost @sshOpts 'nix-store --export $extraOpts @missing $compressor' | $progressViewer $decompressor $Nix::Config::binDir/nix-store --import > /dev/null") == 0
+            system("set -f; ssh $sshHost @sshOpts 'nix-store --export $extraOpts @missing $compressor' | $decompressor $progressViewer $Nix::Config::binDir/nix-store --import > /dev/null") == 0
                 or die "copying store paths from remote machine `$sshHost' failed: $?";
         }
     }