diff --git a/test/sharness/t0250-files-api.sh b/test/sharness/t0250-files-api.sh
index 5c146b550e0d..9b19af11e53f 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0250-files-api.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0250-files-api.sh
@@ -56,10 +56,10 @@ test_sharding() {
 
   test_expect_success "can make 100 files in a directory $EXTRA" '
     printf "" > list_exp_raw
-    for i in `seq 100 -1 1`
+    for i in `seq 6000 -1 1`
     do
-      echo $i | ipfs files write --create /foo/file$i || return 1
-      echo file$i >> list_exp_raw
+      echo $i | ipfs files write --flush=false --create /foo/`printf "file%06d" $i` || return 1
+      echo `printf "file%06d" $i` >> list_exp_raw
     done
   '
   # Create the files in reverse (unsorted) order (`seq 100 -1 1`)