diff --git a/internal/ethapi/api.go b/internal/ethapi/api.go
index e2911c6b16..f7584cbf5a 100644
--- a/internal/ethapi/api.go
+++ b/internal/ethapi/api.go
@@ -2202,9 +2202,17 @@ func (api *DebugAPI) ChaindbProperty(property string) (string, error) {
 // ChaindbCompact flattens the entire key-value database into a single level,
 // removing all unused slots and merging all keys.
 func (api *DebugAPI) ChaindbCompact() error {
-	for b := byte(0); b < 255; b++ {
-		log.Info("Compacting chain database", "range", fmt.Sprintf("0x%0.2X-0x%0.2X", b, b+1))
-		if err := api.b.ChainDb().Compact([]byte{b}, []byte{b + 1}); err != nil {
+	cstart := time.Now()
+	for b := 0; b <= 255; b++ {
+		var (
+			start = []byte{byte(b)}
+			end   = []byte{byte(b + 1)}
+		)
+		if b == 255 {
+			end = nil
+		}
+		log.Info("Compacting database", "range", fmt.Sprintf("%#X-%#X", start, end), "elapsed", common.PrettyDuration(time.Since(cstart)))
+		if err := api.b.ChainDb().Compact(start, end); err != nil {
 			log.Error("Database compaction failed", "err", err)
 			return err
 		}