diff --git a/NEWS.org b/NEWS.org
index 732ea027..5c7da37b 100644
--- a/NEWS.org
+++ b/NEWS.org
@@ -72,6 +72,9 @@
       "My bookmark" :query "banana OR pear" :key ?f)~ this format is a bit easier
       extensible.
 
+    - Same is true for ~mu4e-maildir-shortcuts~. The older format is still
+      recognized.
+
     - Improved handling of replies to mailing-lists.
 
     - For instance, we now recognize an attribute ~:hide t~, which will hide the
@@ -86,6 +89,15 @@
       with a repl for testing. If you have readline installed, you also get
       history etc.
 
+    - mu4e now defaults to _not_ doing a cleanup after indexing; see
+      ~mu4e-index-cleanup~; reason is that some users have slow (file)systems,
+      making the index operation unnecessary lengthy. More over, files that do not exist
+      are excluded during querying.
+
+      It is recommended to occasionally still clean up the database, perhaps by
+      closing mu4e and calling ~mu index~ from the command-line; this is esp. true
+      if other programs are working in your maildir, behind mu's back.
+
 *** toys
 
     - Updated the ~mug~ toy UI to use Webkit2/GTK+. Note that this is just a toy
diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e-vars.el b/mu4e/mu4e-vars.el
index 115f6a18..67fd2d99 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e-vars.el
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e-vars.el
@@ -96,23 +96,30 @@ This depends on the `mu4e-get-mail-command' exit code."
   :group 'mu4e
   :safe 'booleanp)
 
-(defcustom mu4e-index-cleanup t
+(defcustom mu4e-index-cleanup nil
   "Whether to run a cleanup phase after indexing.
+
 That is, validate that each message in the message store has a
 corresponding message file in the filesystem.
 
 Having this option as t ensures that no non-existing messages are
-shown but can also be quite slow with large message stores."
-  :type 'boolean :group 'mu4e :safe 'booleanp)
+shown but can also be quite slow with large message stores, and
+especially with slow filesystems."
+  :type 'boolean
+  :group 'mu4e
+  :safe 'booleanp
+  :version "1.3.9")
 
 (defcustom mu4e-index-lazy-check nil
   "Whether to only use a 'lazy check' during reindexing.
 This influences how we decide whether a message
 needs (re)indexing or not. When this is set to t, mu only uses
-the directory timestamps to decide on whether it needs to check
-the messages beneath it, which would miss messages that are
-modified outside mu. On the other hand, it's significantly
-faster." :type 'boolean :group 'mu4e :safe 'booleanp)
+the directory timestamps to decide whether it needs to check the
+messages beneath it, which would miss messages that are modified
+outside mu. On the other hand, it's significantly faster."
+  :type 'boolean
+  :group 'mu4e
+  :safe 'booleanp)
 
 (defcustom mu4e-update-interval nil
   "Number of seconds between mail retrieval/indexing.
@@ -231,6 +238,7 @@ Note that the queries used to determine the unread/all counts do
 current not apply `mu4e-query-rewrite-function', so if your
 bookmarks depend on that, the results may differ."
   :type '(repeat (plist))
+  :version "1.3.9"
   :group 'mu4e)
 
 
@@ -564,6 +572,7 @@ designated shortcut character for the maildir.
 Unlike in search queries, folder names with spaces in them must
 NOT be quoted, since mu4e does this for you."
   :type '(repeat (cons (string :tag "Maildir") character))
+  :version "1.3.9"
   :group 'mu4e-folders)
 
 
diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e.texi b/mu4e/mu4e.texi
index 708888a3..8d5501ca 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e.texi
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e.texi
@@ -588,13 +588,12 @@ corpa. For a faster approach, you can use the following:
 
 @lisp
 (setq
-  mu4e-index-cleanup nil      ;; don't do a full cleanup check
   mu4e-index-lazy-check t)    ;; don't consider up-to-date dirs
 @end lisp
 
-In many cases, the mentioned thoroughness might not be needed, and these
-settings give a very significant speed-up. Note that you can of course
-occasionally run a thorough indexing round.
+In many cases, the mentioned thoroughness might not be needed, and
+these settings give a very significant speed-up. Note that you can of
+course occasionally run a thorough indexing round.
 
 For further details, please refer to the @t{mu-index} manpage; in
 particular, see @t{.noindex} and @t{.noupdate} which can help reducing