diff --git a/src/axolotl/utils/dataloader.py b/src/axolotl/utils/dataloader.py
index f2804b1a5..0798336e6 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/utils/dataloader.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/utils/dataloader.py
@@ -152,9 +152,10 @@ class MultipackDistributedDataloader:
     ):
         # Dataset
         self.dataset = dataset
-        self.lengths: np.ndarray = np.array(
-            [len(sample["input_ids"]) for sample in self.dataset]
+        lengths_series = (
+            dataset.data.column("position_ids").to_pandas().apply(lambda x: x[-1] + 1)
         )
+        self.lengths: np.ndarray = lengths_series.values
         assert isinstance(self.lengths, np.ndarray)
         assert batch_size % sample_packing_seq_len_multiplier == 0
         assert batch_size >= sample_packing_seq_len_multiplier
@@ -208,6 +209,7 @@ class MultipackDistributedDataloader:
             if set_stats:
                 self.eff_total_used = total_used
                 self.eff_total_slots = total_slots
+        self.batch_queue.put(None)  # Signal the end of batch generation
 
     def _generate_batches_thread(self):
         try:
@@ -260,7 +262,8 @@ class MultipackDistributedDataloader:
             if not len_remaining:
                 break
         # Wait for the batch generation thread to finish
-        batch_gen_thread.join()
+        batch_gen_thread.join(timeout=5)
+        LOG.info(f"actual packing efficiency: {self.efficiency()}")
 
     def _len_est(self):
         if not self.total_num_tokens:
@@ -277,7 +280,7 @@ class MultipackDistributedDataloader:
                 0.99
                 * lengths_sum_per_device
                 / self.packing_efficiency_estimate
-                / self.seq_max_length
+                // self.seq_max_length
                 // self.batch_size
             )
             - 1