diff --git a/nidx/nidx_text/src/lib.rs b/nidx/nidx_text/src/lib.rs
index 3dd6703997..40e152a73f 100644
--- a/nidx/nidx_text/src/lib.rs
+++ b/nidx/nidx_text/src/lib.rs
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ pub struct FieldUid {
 }
 
 // Unique id for a field, equivalent to {rid}/{field_type}/{field_id}[/{split}]/{paragraph_start}-{paragraph_end}
-#[derive(Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Hash)]
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Hash)]
 pub struct ParagraphUid {
     pub rid: String,
     pub field_type: String,
@@ -224,37 +224,7 @@ impl TextSearcher {
         &self,
         paragraph_uids: Vec<ParagraphUid>,
     ) -> anyhow::Result<HashMap<ParagraphUid, Option<String>>> {
-        let mut paragraph_fields = HashMap::new();
-        for paragraph_id in paragraph_uids {
-            let field_id = FieldUid::from(paragraph_id.clone());
-            paragraph_fields
-                .entry(field_id)
-                .and_modify(|v: &mut Vec<ParagraphUid>| v.push(paragraph_id.clone()))
-                .or_insert(vec![paragraph_id]);
-        }
-
-        let fields_text = self
-            .reader
-            .get_fields_text(paragraph_fields.keys().cloned().collect())?;
-
-        let mut paragraphs_text = HashMap::new();
-
-        for (field_id, field_text) in fields_text {
-            if let Some(paragraphs) = paragraph_fields.remove(&field_id) {
-                for paragraph_id in paragraphs {
-                    let paragraph_text = field_text.as_ref().map(|field_text| {
-                        field_text
-                            .chars()
-                            .skip(paragraph_id.paragraph_start as usize)
-                            .take((paragraph_id.paragraph_end - paragraph_id.paragraph_start) as usize)
-                            .collect()
-                    });
-                    paragraphs_text.insert(paragraph_id, paragraph_text);
-                }
-            }
-        }
-
-        Ok(paragraphs_text)
+        self.reader.get_paragraphs_text(paragraph_uids)
     }
 
     pub fn iterator(&self, request: &StreamRequest) -> anyhow::Result<impl Iterator<Item = DocumentItem> + use<>> {
diff --git a/nidx/nidx_text/src/reader.rs b/nidx/nidx_text/src/reader.rs
index 7081b6c3cb..f1326c5f52 100644
--- a/nidx/nidx_text/src/reader.rs
+++ b/nidx/nidx_text/src/reader.rs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ use std::time::*;
 
 use crate::schema::{datetime_utc_to_timestamp, decode_field_id, encode_field_id_bytes};
 use crate::search_query::filter_to_query;
-use crate::{DocumentSearchRequest, FieldUid, prefilter::*};
+use crate::{DocumentSearchRequest, FieldUid, ParagraphUid, prefilter::*};
 
 use super::schema::TextSchema;
 use super::search_query;
@@ -469,29 +469,10 @@ impl TextReaderService {
     }
 
     pub fn get_fields_text(&self, field_uids: Vec<FieldUid>) -> anyhow::Result<HashMap<FieldUid, Option<String>>> {
-        let limit = field_uids.len();
-
-        // due to implementation details, we use here a BooleanQuery as it's
-        // around 2 orders of magnitude faster than a TermSetQuery
-        let mut subqueries: Vec<Box<dyn Query>> = vec![];
-        for uid in field_uids {
-            subqueries.push(Box::new(TermQuery::new(
-                Term::from_field_bytes(
-                    self.schema.encoded_field_id_bytes,
-                    &encode_field_id_bytes(
-                        Uuid::parse_str(&uid.rid)?,
-                        &format!("{}/{}", uid.field_type, uid.field_name),
-                    ),
-                ),
-                IndexRecordOption::Basic,
-            )));
-        }
-        let query: Box<dyn Query> = Box::new(BooleanQuery::union(subqueries));
-        let collector = TopDocs::with_limit(limit).order_by_score();
         let searcher = self.reader.searcher();
+        let results = self.search_fields(searcher.clone(), field_uids.iter())?;
 
         let mut texts = HashMap::new();
-        let results = searcher.search(&query, &collector)?;
         for (_score, doc_id) in results {
             let doc = searcher.doc::<TantivyDocument>(doc_id)?;
             let doc_value = doc.get_first(self.schema.text);
@@ -525,6 +506,162 @@ impl TextReaderService {
 
         Ok(texts)
     }
+
+    pub fn get_paragraphs_text(
+        &self,
+        paragraph_uids: Vec<ParagraphUid>,
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<HashMap<ParagraphUid, Option<String>>> {
+        let mut field_paragraph_ids = HashMap::new();
+        for paragraph_id in paragraph_uids {
+            let field_id = FieldUid::from(paragraph_id.clone());
+            field_paragraph_ids
+                .entry(field_id)
+                .and_modify(|v: &mut Vec<ParagraphUid>| v.push(paragraph_id.clone()))
+                .or_insert(vec![paragraph_id]);
+        }
+
+        let searcher = self.reader.searcher();
+        let results = self.search_fields(searcher.clone(), field_paragraph_ids.keys())?;
+
+        let mut paragraphs_text = HashMap::new();
+        for (_score, doc_id) in results {
+            let doc = searcher.doc::<TantivyDocument>(doc_id)?;
+
+            let Some(text) = doc.get_first(self.schema.text).map(|value| value.as_str().unwrap()) else {
+                // can't do anything without extracted text
+                continue;
+            };
+            let rid = String::from_utf8(
+                doc.get_first(self.schema.uuid)
+                    .expect("document doesn't appear to have uuid.")
+                    .as_bytes()
+                    .unwrap()
+                    .to_vec(),
+            )
+            .unwrap();
+            let field = decode_facet(
+                doc.get_first(self.schema.field)
+                    .expect("document doesn't appear to have field.")
+                    .as_facet()
+                    .unwrap(),
+            )
+            .to_path_string();
+
+            let parts: Vec<_> = field.split('/').collect(); // e.g. /a/title
+            let field_uid = FieldUid {
+                rid,
+                field_type: parts[1].to_string(),
+                field_name: parts[2].to_string(),
+                split: parts.get(3).map(|x| x.to_string()),
+            };
+
+            if let Some(paragraph_ids) = field_paragraph_ids.remove(&field_uid) {
+                // iterate the text by unicode characters only once, reusing the same iterator for
+                // all paragraphs on the field. This is more useful for multiple paragraphs per
+                // field on a large text
+                let mut paragraphs = Self::extract_paragraphs(paragraph_ids.into_iter(), text.chars());
+                for (k, v) in paragraphs.drain() {
+                    paragraphs_text.insert(k, v);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        Ok(paragraphs_text)
+    }
+
+    fn search_fields<'a>(
+        &self,
+        searcher: Searcher,
+        field_uids: impl Iterator<Item = &'a FieldUid>,
+    ) -> anyhow::Result<Vec<(f32, DocAddress)>> {
+        // due to implementation details, we use here a BooleanQuery as it's
+        // around 2 orders of magnitude faster than a TermSetQuery
+        let mut subqueries: Vec<Box<dyn Query>> = vec![];
+        for field_uid in field_uids {
+            subqueries.push(Box::new(TermQuery::new(
+                Term::from_field_bytes(
+                    self.schema.encoded_field_id_bytes,
+                    &encode_field_id_bytes(
+                        Uuid::parse_str(&field_uid.rid)?,
+                        &format!("{}/{}", field_uid.field_type, field_uid.field_name),
+                    ),
+                ),
+                IndexRecordOption::Basic,
+            )));
+        }
+        // we store a doc per field, so we expect at most the number of unique fields
+        let limit = subqueries.len();
+        let query: Box<dyn Query> = Box::new(BooleanQuery::union(subqueries));
+        let collector = TopDocs::with_limit(limit).order_by_score();
+        let results = searcher.search(&query, &collector)?;
+        Ok(results)
+    }
+
+    fn extract_paragraphs(
+        ids: impl Iterator<Item = ParagraphUid>,
+        mut text: std::str::Chars<'_>,
+    ) -> HashMap<ParagraphUid, Option<String>> {
+        let mut paragraphs = HashMap::new();
+
+        // sort paragraph_ids by (start, end) to avoid the need of already read chars from the text
+        let mut ids = ids.sorted_by_key(|id| (id.paragraph_start, id.paragraph_end));
+
+        let Some(first) = ids.next() else {
+            return paragraphs;
+        };
+        let mut window = std::ops::Range {
+            start: first.paragraph_start,
+            end: first.paragraph_end,
+        };
+        let mut window_paragraphs = vec![first];
+
+        let mut skip = 0;
+
+        for paragraph_id in ids {
+            if paragraph_id.paragraph_start < window.end {
+                // This paragraph overlaps with the window. We can't be sure if there will be more
+                // in the future, so we widen the window and continue
+                window.end = std::cmp::max(window.end, paragraph_id.paragraph_end);
+                window_paragraphs.push(paragraph_id);
+            } else {
+                // A non-overlapping paragraph means we won't find any other paragraph that needs
+                // the text from the window. We then read the window and extract the paragraphs
+                skip = window.start - skip;
+                let take = window.end - window.start;
+                let chunk: Vec<char> = text.by_ref().skip(skip as usize).take(take as usize).collect();
+                skip = window.end;
+
+                for id in window_paragraphs.drain(..) {
+                    let start = (id.paragraph_start - window.start) as usize;
+                    // clamp to chunk size, we don't have more text
+                    let end = std::cmp::min((id.paragraph_end - window.start) as usize, chunk.len());
+                    let paragraph: String = chunk[start..end].iter().collect();
+                    paragraphs.insert(id, Some(paragraph));
+                }
+
+                // As the new paragraph could overlap with future ones, we reset the window with it
+                window = std::ops::Range {
+                    start: paragraph_id.paragraph_start,
+                    end: paragraph_id.paragraph_end,
+                };
+                window_paragraphs.push(paragraph_id);
+            }
+        }
+
+        // with no more paragraphs, we can finish with the window
+        skip = window.start - skip;
+        let take = window.end - window.start;
+        let chunk: Vec<char> = text.by_ref().skip(skip as usize).take(take as usize).collect();
+
+        for id in window_paragraphs.drain(..) {
+            let start = (id.paragraph_start - window.start) as usize;
+            let end = std::cmp::min((id.paragraph_end - window.start) as usize, chunk.len());
+            let paragraph: String = chunk[start..end].iter().collect();
+            paragraphs.insert(id, Some(paragraph));
+        }
+
+        paragraphs
+    }
 }
 
 pub struct BatchProducer {
@@ -588,3 +725,95 @@ impl Iterator for BatchProducer {
         Some(items)
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn extract_paragraphs_using_a_single_iterator() {
+        let text = "This is my test text";
+        let word_positions = [(0, 4), (5, 7), (8, 10), (11, 15), (16, 20)];
+        let words: Vec<ParagraphUid> = word_positions
+            .into_iter()
+            .map(|(start, end)| ParagraphUid {
+                rid: "rid".to_string(),
+                field_type: "a".to_string(),
+                field_name: "title".to_string(),
+                split: None,
+                paragraph_start: start,
+                paragraph_end: end,
+            })
+            .collect();
+
+        // longer paragraphs overlapping with the words above
+        let overlapping_positions = [
+            (0, 7),
+            // intersects with the above but has content outside
+            (5, 15),
+            // same as above
+            (5, 15),
+            // subset of the above
+            (8, 15),
+        ];
+        let overlapping: Vec<ParagraphUid> = overlapping_positions
+            .into_iter()
+            .map(|(start, end)| ParagraphUid {
+                rid: "rid".to_string(),
+                field_type: "a".to_string(),
+                field_name: "title".to_string(),
+                split: None,
+                paragraph_start: start,
+                paragraph_end: end,
+            })
+            .collect();
+
+        let out_of_bounds: Vec<ParagraphUid> = [(8, 100), (16, 100), (200, 300)]
+            .into_iter()
+            .map(|(start, end)| ParagraphUid {
+                rid: "rid".to_string(),
+                field_type: "a".to_string(),
+                field_name: "title".to_string(),
+                split: None,
+                paragraph_start: start,
+                paragraph_end: end,
+            })
+            .collect();
+
+        let paragraphs = TextReaderService::extract_paragraphs(
+            [
+                overlapping[2].clone(),
+                words[3].clone(),
+                overlapping[3].clone(),
+                out_of_bounds[2].clone(),
+                words[1].clone(),
+                overlapping[0].clone(),
+                out_of_bounds[1].clone(),
+                words[4].clone(),
+                words[0].clone(),
+                overlapping[1].clone(),
+                out_of_bounds[0].clone(),
+                words[2].clone(),
+            ]
+            .into_iter(),
+            text.chars(),
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            paragraphs,
+            HashMap::from_iter([
+                (words[0].clone(), Some("This".to_string())),
+                (overlapping[0].clone(), Some("This is".to_string())),
+                (words[1].clone(), Some("is".to_string())),
+                (overlapping[1].clone(), Some("is my test".to_string())),
+                (overlapping[2].clone(), Some("is my test".to_string())),
+                (words[2].clone(), Some("my".to_string())),
+                (overlapping[3].clone(), Some("my test".to_string())),
+                (out_of_bounds[0].clone(), Some("my test text".to_string())),
+                (words[3].clone(), Some("test".to_string())),
+                (words[4].clone(), Some("text".to_string())),
+                (out_of_bounds[1].clone(), Some("text".to_string())),
+                (out_of_bounds[2].clone(), Some("".to_string())),
+            ])
+        );
+    }
+}
diff --git a/nidx/src/searcher/shard_text.rs b/nidx/src/searcher/shard_text.rs
index 568dc8cda4..3b10f59bf2 100644
--- a/nidx/src/searcher/shard_text.rs
+++ b/nidx/src/searcher/shard_text.rs
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ use std::time::Instant;
 
 use nidx_protos::{ExtractedTextsRequest, ExtractedTextsResponse};
 use nidx_text::{FieldUid, ParagraphUid, TextSearcher};
+use tracing::Span;
 
 use crate::errors::{NidxError, NidxResult};
 use crate::searcher::index_cache::IndexCache;
@@ -47,8 +48,24 @@ pub async fn extracted_texts(
         return Err(NidxError::NotFound);
     };
     let index = index_cache.get(&text_index_id).await?;
-    let searcher: &TextSearcher = index.as_ref().into();
 
+    let span = Span::current();
+    let extracted_texts = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
+        span.in_scope(|| {
+            let searcher: &TextSearcher = index.as_ref().into();
+            blocking_extracted_texts(searcher, request)
+        })
+    })
+    .await??;
+
+    tracing::debug!("Extracted texts took {:?}", start.elapsed());
+    Ok(extracted_texts)
+}
+
+fn blocking_extracted_texts(
+    searcher: &TextSearcher,
+    request: ExtractedTextsRequest,
+) -> NidxResult<ExtractedTextsResponse> {
     let mut extracted_texts = ExtractedTextsResponse::default();
 
     if !request.field_ids.is_empty() {
@@ -85,6 +102,5 @@ pub async fn extracted_texts(
         }
     }
 
-    tracing::info!("Extracted texts took {:?}µs", start.elapsed().as_micros());
     Ok(extracted_texts)
 }