diff --git a/src/storage/filesystem.js b/src/storage/filesystem.js
index 925b0293f..ffa286d95 100644
--- a/src/storage/filesystem.js
+++ b/src/storage/filesystem.js
@@ -113,13 +113,13 @@ function copy(apiConfig, oldFilePath, newFilePath) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof oldFilePath, 'string');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof newFilePath, 'string');
 
-    debug('copy: %s -> %s', oldFilePath, newFilePath);
-
     var events = new EventEmitter();
 
     mkdirp(path.dirname(newFilePath), function (error) {
         if (error) return events.emit('done', new BackupsError(BackupsError.EXTERNAL_ERROR, error.message));
 
+        events.emit('progress', `Copying ${oldFilePath} to ${newFilePath}`);
+
         // this will hardlink backups saving space
         var cpOptions = apiConfig.noHardlinks ? '-a' : '-al';
         shell.spawn('copy', '/bin/cp', [ cpOptions, oldFilePath, newFilePath ], { }, function (error) {
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ function removeDir(apiConfig, pathPrefix) {
 
     var events = new EventEmitter();
 
-    events.emit('progress', `removeDir: ${pathPrefix}`);
+    process.nextTick(() => events.emit('progress', `Removing directory ${pathPrefix}`));
 
     shell.spawn('removeDir', '/bin/rm', [ '-rf', pathPrefix ], { }, function (error) {
         if (error) return events.emit('done', new BackupsError(BackupsError.EXTERNAL_ERROR, error.message));