diff --git a/common/xbps-src/shutils/bulk.sh b/common/xbps-src/shutils/bulk.sh
index 3a44dd1539e..964be3b66ff 100644
--- a/common/xbps-src/shutils/bulk.sh
+++ b/common/xbps-src/shutils/bulk.sh
@@ -8,14 +8,13 @@ bulk_sortdeps() {
 
     tmpf=$(mktemp) || exit 1
 
-    # Perform a topological sort of all build dependencies.
-    if [ $NRUNNING -eq $NPROCS ]; then
-        NRUNNING=0
-        wait
-    fi
-
+    # Perform a topological sort of all *direct* build dependencies.
     for pkg in ${pkgs}; do
-        # async/parallel execution
+        if [ $NRUNNING -eq $NPROCS ]; then
+            NRUNNING=0
+            wait
+        fi
+        NRUNNING=$((NRUNNING+1))
         (
             for _pkg in $(./xbps-src show-build-deps $pkg 2>/dev/null); do
                 echo "$pkg $_pkg" >> $tmpf
@@ -29,6 +28,9 @@ bulk_sortdeps() {
 }
 
 bulk_build() {
+    local sys="$1"
+    local NPROCS=$(($(nproc)*2))
+    local NRUNNING=0
 
     if [ "$XBPS_CROSS_BUILD" ]; then
         source ${XBPS_COMMONDIR}/cross-profiles/${XBPS_CROSS_BUILD}.sh
@@ -38,21 +40,38 @@ bulk_build() {
         msg_error "xbps-src: cannot find xbps-checkvers(1) command!\n"
     fi
 
-    bulk_sortdeps "$(xbps-checkvers -f '%n' ${1} --distdir=$XBPS_DISTDIR)"
+    # Compare installed pkg versions vs srcpkgs
+    if [[ $sys ]]; then
+        xbps-checkvers -f '%n' -I -D $XBPS_DISTDIR
+        return $?
+    fi
+    # compare repo pkg versions vs srcpkgs
+    for f in $(xbps-checkvers -f '%n' -D $XBPS_DISTDIR); do
+        if [ $NRUNNING -eq $NPROCS ]; then
+            NRUNNING=0
+            wait
+        fi
+        NRUNNING=$((NRUNNING+1))
+        (
+            if ./xbps-src show-avail $f &>/dev/null; then
+                echo "$f"
+            fi
+        ) &
+    done
+    wait
+    return $?
 }
 
 bulk_update() {
     local args="$1" pkgs f rval
 
     pkgs="$(bulk_build ${args})"
-    if [ -z "$pkgs" ]; then
-        return 0
-    fi
+    [[ -z $pkgs ]] && return 0
+
     msg_normal "xbps-src: the following packages must be rebuilt and updated:\n"
     for f in ${pkgs}; do
-        echo "   $f"
+        echo " $f"
     done
-    echo
     for f in ${pkgs}; do
         XBPS_TARGET_PKG=$f
         read_pkg