diff --git a/tools/jfjoch_process.cpp b/tools/jfjoch_process.cpp
index ee829196c..21f88512e 100644
--- a/tools/jfjoch_process.cpp
+++ b/tools/jfjoch_process.cpp
@@ -395,7 +395,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 
     std::atomic<int> processed_count = 0;
     std::atomic<uint64_t> total_uncompressed_bytes = 0;
-    std::atomic<uint64_t> max_image_number_sent = 0;
 
     start_message.file_format = FileWriterFormat::NXmxIntegrated;
     start_message.write_master_file = true;
@@ -449,7 +448,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
             DataMessage msg{};
 
             msg.image = img->image;
-            msg.number = image_idx;
+            msg.number = current_idx_offset;
+            msg.original_number = image_idx;
             msg.image_collection_efficiency = dataset->efficiency[image_idx];
 
             total_uncompressed_bytes += msg.image.GetUncompressedSize();
@@ -477,13 +477,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
             if (writer)
                 writer->Write(msg);
 
-            // Update max sent tracking
-            uint64_t current_max = max_image_number_sent.load();
-            while (static_cast<uint64_t>(msg.number) > current_max) {
-                if (max_image_number_sent.compare_exchange_weak(current_max, static_cast<uint64_t>(msg.number)))
-                    break;
-            }
-
             finished_count.fetch_add(1);
 
             // Progress log
@@ -529,7 +522,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 
     // 5. Finalize Statistics and Write EndMessage
     EndMessage end_msg;
-    end_msg.max_image_number = max_image_number_sent;
+    end_msg.max_image_number = images_to_process;
     end_msg.images_collected_count = images_to_process;
     end_msg.images_sent_to_write_count = images_to_process;
     end_msg.end_date = time_UTC(std::chrono::system_clock::now());