diff --git a/kolibri/core/content/management/commands/importcontent.py b/kolibri/core/content/management/commands/importcontent.py
index c10e8ad2776..55254c01501 100644
--- a/kolibri/core/content/management/commands/importcontent.py
+++ b/kolibri/core/content/management/commands/importcontent.py
@@ -331,7 +331,9 @@ def _transfer(  # noqa: max-complexity=16
                 # the actual destination file that it is moved to. To add tolerance, we divide
                 # the number of file descriptors that could be allocated to this task by four,
                 # which should give us leeway in case of unforeseen descriptor use during the process.
-                max_workers = min(1, max_descriptors_per_download_task // 4)
+                max_workers = min(
+                    max_workers, min(1, max_descriptors_per_download_task // 4)
+                )
 
             with executor(max_workers=max_workers) as executor:
                 batch_size = 100
@@ -345,6 +347,8 @@ def _transfer(  # noqa: max-complexity=16
                         break
                     future_file_transfers = {}
                     for i in range(batch_size):
+                        if self.is_cancelled():
+                            break
                         if files_to_download:
                             f = files_to_download.pop()
                             filename = get_content_file_name(f)
diff --git a/kolibri/core/content/test/test_import_export.py b/kolibri/core/content/test/test_import_export.py
index 77d21d2e0fc..c1123b40d2f 100644
--- a/kolibri/core/content/test/test_import_export.py
+++ b/kolibri/core/content/test/test_import_export.py
@@ -39,6 +39,18 @@ def __eq__(self, other):
     return Any()
 
 
+class FalseThenTrue(object):
+    def __init__(self, times=1):
+        self.times = times
+        self.count = 0
+
+    def __call__(self):
+        self.count += 1
+        if self.count > self.times:
+            return True
+        return False
+
+
 @patch(
     "kolibri.core.content.management.commands.importchannel.channel_import.import_channel_from_local_db"
 )
@@ -290,7 +302,7 @@ def test_remote_cancel_immediately(
     @patch("kolibri.core.content.management.commands.importcontent.AsyncCommand.cancel")
     @patch(
         "kolibri.core.content.management.commands.importcontent.AsyncCommand.is_cancelled",
-        side_effect=[False, False, False, True, True, True],
+        side_effect=FalseThenTrue(times=6),
     )
     def test_remote_cancel_during_transfer(
         self,
@@ -344,7 +356,7 @@ def test_remote_cancel_during_transfer(
     @patch("kolibri.core.content.management.commands.importcontent.AsyncCommand.cancel")
     @patch(
         "kolibri.core.content.management.commands.importcontent.AsyncCommand.is_cancelled",
-        side_effect=[False, True, True],
+        side_effect=FalseThenTrue(times=3),
     )
     def test_remote_cancel_after_file_copy_file_not_deleted(
         self,
@@ -421,7 +433,7 @@ def test_local_cancel_immediately(
     @patch("kolibri.core.content.management.commands.importcontent.AsyncCommand.cancel")
     @patch(
         "kolibri.core.content.management.commands.importcontent.AsyncCommand.is_cancelled",
-        side_effect=[False, True, True],
+        side_effect=FalseThenTrue(times=3),
     )
     def test_local_cancel_during_transfer(
         self,
@@ -438,7 +450,7 @@ def test_local_cancel_during_transfer(
         fd2, local_src_path = tempfile.mkstemp()
         os.close(fd1)
         os.close(fd2)
-        local_path_mock.side_effect = [local_dest_path, local_src_path]
+        local_path_mock.side_effect = [local_dest_path, local_src_path] * 10
         FileCopyMock.return_value.__iter__.side_effect = TransferCanceled()
         get_import_export_mock.return_value = (
             1,
@@ -460,7 +472,7 @@ def test_local_cancel_during_transfer(
     @patch("kolibri.core.content.management.commands.importcontent.AsyncCommand.cancel")
     @patch(
         "kolibri.core.content.management.commands.importcontent.AsyncCommand.is_cancelled",
-        side_effect=[False, True, True, True],
+        side_effect=FalseThenTrue(times=3),
     )
     def test_remote_cancel_during_connect_error(
         self,
@@ -736,7 +748,7 @@ def test_remote_import_no_space_after_first_download(
     @patch("kolibri.core.content.management.commands.importcontent.AsyncCommand.cancel")
     @patch(
         "kolibri.core.content.management.commands.importcontent.AsyncCommand.is_cancelled",
-        side_effect=[False, False, False, True, True, True, True],
+        side_effect=FalseThenTrue(times=6),
     )
     def test_remote_import_chunkedencodingerror(
         self,
@@ -782,7 +794,7 @@ def test_remote_import_chunkedencodingerror(
     @patch("kolibri.core.content.management.commands.importcontent.AsyncCommand.cancel")
     @patch(
         "kolibri.core.content.management.commands.importcontent.AsyncCommand.is_cancelled",
-        side_effect=[False, True],
+        side_effect=FalseThenTrue(times=3),
     )
     def test_local_import_oserror_dne(
         self,