diff --git a/lib/Epub/Epub/parsers/ChapterHtmlSlimParser.cpp b/lib/Epub/Epub/parsers/ChapterHtmlSlimParser.cpp
index 0b1bb8db..d2f1c3e6 100644
--- a/lib/Epub/Epub/parsers/ChapterHtmlSlimParser.cpp
+++ b/lib/Epub/Epub/parsers/ChapterHtmlSlimParser.cpp
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@
 const char* HEADER_TAGS[] = {"h1", "h2", "h3", "h4", "h5", "h6"};
 constexpr int NUM_HEADER_TAGS = sizeof(HEADER_TAGS) / sizeof(HEADER_TAGS[0]);
 
+// Minimum file size (in bytes) to show progress bar - smaller chapters don't benefit from it
+constexpr size_t MIN_SIZE_FOR_PROGRESS = 50 * 1024;  // 50KB
+
 const char* BLOCK_TAGS[] = {"p", "li", "div", "br", "blockquote"};
 constexpr int NUM_BLOCK_TAGS = sizeof(BLOCK_TAGS) / sizeof(BLOCK_TAGS[0]);
 
@@ -255,10 +258,11 @@ bool ChapterHtmlSlimParser::parseAndBuildPages() {
     }
 
     // Update progress (call every 10% change to avoid too frequent updates)
+    // Only show progress for larger chapters where rendering overhead is worth it
     bytesRead += len;
-    if (progressFn && totalSize > 0) {
+    if (progressFn && totalSize >= MIN_SIZE_FOR_PROGRESS) {
       const int progress = static_cast<int>((bytesRead * 100) / totalSize);
-      if (progress != lastProgress && progress % 10 == 0) {
+      if (lastProgress / 10 != progress / 10) {
         lastProgress = progress;
         progressFn(progress);
       }