diff --git a/pageserver/client_grpc/src/client.rs b/pageserver/client_grpc/src/client.rs
index 87e80a0dd6..63852868c3 100644
--- a/pageserver/client_grpc/src/client.rs
+++ b/pageserver/client_grpc/src/client.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use std::num::NonZero;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use anyhow::anyhow;
-use futures::stream::{FuturesUnordered, TryChunksError};
+use futures::stream::FuturesUnordered;
 use futures::{FutureExt as _, StreamExt as _};
 use tracing::instrument;
 
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ use utils::shard::{ShardCount, ShardIndex, ShardNumber};
 /// Max number of concurrent clients per channel (i.e. TCP connection). New channels will be spun up
 /// when full.
 ///
+/// TODO: tune all of these constants, and consider making them configurable.
 /// TODO: consider separate limits for unary and streaming clients, so we don't fill up channels
 /// with only streams.
 const MAX_CLIENTS_PER_CHANNEL: NonZero<usize> = NonZero::new(16).unwrap();
@@ -30,15 +31,15 @@ const MAX_UNARY_CLIENTS: NonZero<usize> = NonZero::new(64).unwrap();
 /// requests is given by `MAX_STREAMS * MAX_STREAM_QUEUE_DEPTH`.
 const MAX_STREAMS: NonZero<usize> = NonZero::new(64).unwrap();
 
-/// Max per-stream queue depth.
+/// Max number of pipelined requests per stream.
 const MAX_STREAM_QUEUE_DEPTH: NonZero<usize> = NonZero::new(2).unwrap();
 
-/// Max number of concurrent bulk GetPage streams per shard, used e.g. for prefetches. Because
-/// these are more throughput-oriented, we have a smaller limit but higher queue depth.
+/// Max number of concurrent bulk GetPage streams per shard, used e.g. for prefetches. Because these
+/// are more throughput-oriented, we have a smaller limit but higher queue depth.
 const MAX_BULK_STREAMS: NonZero<usize> = NonZero::new(16).unwrap();
 
-/// Max per-stream queue depth for bulk streams. These are more throughput-oriented and thus get
-/// a larger queue depth.
+/// Max number of pipelined requests per bulk stream. These are more throughput-oriented and thus
+/// get a larger queue depth.
 const MAX_BULK_STREAM_QUEUE_DEPTH: NonZero<usize> = NonZero::new(4).unwrap();
 
 /// A rich Pageserver gRPC client for a single tenant timeline. This client is more capable than the
@@ -165,18 +166,14 @@ impl PageserverClient {
         shard_id: ShardIndex,
         req: page_api::GetPageRequest,
     ) -> tonic::Result<page_api::GetPageResponse> {
-        // Determine whether this is a bulk request, which uses a different stream pool.
-        let is_bulk = match req.request_class {
-            page_api::GetPageClass::Unknown => false,
-            page_api::GetPageClass::Normal => false,
-            page_api::GetPageClass::Prefetch => true,
-            page_api::GetPageClass::Background => true,
-        };
-
         let resp = self
             .retry
             .with(async || {
-                let stream = self.shards.get(shard_id)?.stream(is_bulk).await;
+                let stream = self
+                    .shards
+                    .get(shard_id)?
+                    .stream(req.request_class.is_bulk())
+                    .await;
                 let resp = stream.send(req.clone()).await?;
 
                 // Convert per-request errors into a tonic::Status.
@@ -314,8 +311,6 @@ impl Shards {
 /// * Bulk channel pool: unbounded.
 ///   * Bulk client pool: unbounded.
 ///     * Bulk stream pool: MAX_BULK_STREAMS and MAX_BULK_STREAM_QUEUE_DEPTH.
-///
-/// TODO: consider separate pools for normal and bulk traffic, with different settings.
 struct Shard {
     /// Unary gRPC client pool.
     client_pool: Arc<ClientPool>,
@@ -397,7 +392,8 @@ impl Shard {
             .map_err(|err| tonic::Status::internal(format!("failed to get client: {err}")))
     }
 
-    /// Returns a pooled stream for this shard. If true, uses the bulk pool (e.g. for prefetches).
+    /// Returns a pooled stream for this shard. If `bulk` is `true`, uses the dedicated bulk stream
+    /// pool (e.g. for prefetches).
     async fn stream(&self, bulk: bool) -> StreamGuard {
         match bulk {
             false => self.stream_pool.get().await,
diff --git a/pageserver/page_api/src/model.rs b/pageserver/page_api/src/model.rs
index fc00b32d2e..af78212b68 100644
--- a/pageserver/page_api/src/model.rs
+++ b/pageserver/page_api/src/model.rs
@@ -399,6 +399,19 @@ pub enum GetPageClass {
     Background,
 }
 
+impl GetPageClass {
+    /// Returns true if this is considered a bulk request (i.e. more throughput-oriented rather than
+    /// latency-sensitive).
+    pub fn is_bulk(&self) -> bool {
+        match self {
+            Self::Unknown => false,
+            Self::Normal => false,
+            Self::Prefetch => true,
+            Self::Background => true,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 impl From<proto::GetPageClass> for GetPageClass {
     fn from(pb: proto::GetPageClass) -> Self {
         match pb {