diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 47f74492d..2d351890c 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 * Fixed bug that completely broke non-autotagged imports ("import -A").
 * Fixed bug that logged the wrong paths when using "import -l".
 * Fixed autotagging for the creatively-named band !!!.
+* Efficiency tweak should reduce the number of MusicBrainz queries per
+  autotagged album.
 * A new "-v" command line switch enables debugging output.
 
 1.0b4
diff --git a/beets/autotag/__init__.py b/beets/autotag/__init__.py
index 6705ee9b4..6b1c20994 100644
--- a/beets/autotag/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/autotag/__init__.py
@@ -448,8 +448,9 @@ def tag_album(items, search_artist=None, search_album=None):
     # Get candidate metadata from search.
     if not search_artist or not search_album:
         raise InsufficientMetadataError()
-    candidates = mb.match_album(search_artist, search_album, len(items))
-    candidates = list(candidates)[:MAX_CANDIDATES]
+    candidates = mb.match_album(search_artist, search_album,
+                                len(items), MAX_CANDIDATES)
+    candidates = list(candidates)
 
     # Get candidates from plugins.
     candidates.extend(plugins.candidates(items))
diff --git a/beets/autotag/mb.py b/beets/autotag/mb.py
index 23b30c57d..8f055099e 100644
--- a/beets/autotag/mb.py
+++ b/beets/autotag/mb.py
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ def release_dict(release, tracks=None):
 
     return out
 
-def match_album(artist, album, tracks=None):
+def match_album(artist, album, tracks=None, limit=SEARCH_LIMIT):
     """Searches for a single album ("release" in MusicBrainz parlance)
     and returns an iterator over dictionaries of information (as
     returned by `release_dict`).
diff --git a/beetsplug/lastid.py b/beetsplug/lastid.py
index 40fe45544..f77340953 100644
--- a/beetsplug/lastid.py
+++ b/beetsplug/lastid.py
@@ -131,8 +131,8 @@ class LastIdPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
             criteria['artistName'] = last_artist
 
         # Perform the search.
-        cands = mb.get_releases(**criteria)
-        cands = list(cands)[:autotag.MAX_CANDIDATES]
+        criteria['limit'] = autotag.MAX_CANDIDATES
+        cands = list(mb.get_releases(**criteria))
 
         log.debug('Matched last candidates: %s' %
                   ', '.join([cand['album'] for cand in cands]))