diff --git a/src/catalog.c b/src/catalog.c
index 86b51c87..e1aa0afa 100644
--- a/src/catalog.c
+++ b/src/catalog.c
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@ catalog_get_backup_list(time_t requested_backup_id)
 		if (curr->backup_mode == BACKUP_MODE_FULL)
 			continue;
 
-		for (j = i+1; j < parray_num(backups); j++)
+		for (j = 0; j < parray_num(backups); j++)
 		{
 			pgBackup *ancestor = parray_get(backups, j);
 
@@ -1034,8 +1034,12 @@ find_parent_full_backup(pgBackup *current_backup)
 	}
 
 	if (base_full_backup->backup_mode != BACKUP_MODE_FULL)
-		elog(ERROR, "Failed to find FULL backup parent for %s",
-				base36enc(current_backup->start_time));
+	{
+
+		elog(WARNING, "Backup %s is missing",
+				base36enc(base_full_backup->parent_backup));
+		return NULL;
+	}
 
 	return base_full_backup;
 }
diff --git a/src/merge.c b/src/merge.c
index 5726e36c..e5861b39 100644
--- a/src/merge.c
+++ b/src/merge.c
@@ -53,12 +53,10 @@ void
 do_merge(time_t backup_id)
 {
 	parray	   *backups;
+	parray	   *merge_list = parray_new();
 	pgBackup   *dest_backup = NULL;
 	pgBackup   *full_backup = NULL;
-	time_t		prev_parent = INVALID_BACKUP_ID;
 	int			i;
-	int			dest_backup_idx = 0;
-	int			full_backup_idx = 0;
 
 	if (backup_id == INVALID_BACKUP_ID)
 		elog(ERROR, "required parameter is not specified: --backup-id");
@@ -71,73 +69,79 @@ do_merge(time_t backup_id)
 	/* Get list of all backups sorted in order of descending start time */
 	backups = catalog_get_backup_list(INVALID_BACKUP_ID);
 
-	/* Find destination and parent backups */
+	/* Find destination backup first */
 	for (i = 0; i < parray_num(backups); i++)
 	{
 		pgBackup   *backup = (pgBackup *) parray_get(backups, i);
 
-		if (backup->start_time > backup_id)
-			continue;
-		else if (backup->start_time == backup_id && !dest_backup)
+		/* found target */
+		if (backup->start_time == backup_id)
 		{
+			/* sanity */
 			if (backup->status != BACKUP_STATUS_OK &&
 				/* It is possible that previous merging was interrupted */
 				backup->status != BACKUP_STATUS_MERGING &&
 				backup->status != BACKUP_STATUS_DELETING)
-				elog(ERROR, "Backup %s has status: %s",
-					 base36enc(backup->start_time), status2str(backup->status));
+					elog(ERROR, "Backup %s has status: %s",
+						 base36enc(backup->start_time), status2str(backup->status));
 
 			if (backup->backup_mode == BACKUP_MODE_FULL)
 				elog(ERROR, "Backup %s is full backup",
 					 base36enc(backup->start_time));
 
 			dest_backup = backup;
-			dest_backup_idx = i;
+			break;
 		}
-		else
-		{
-			if (dest_backup == NULL)
-				elog(ERROR, "Target backup %s was not found", base36enc(backup_id));
-
-			if (backup->start_time != prev_parent)
-				continue;
-
-			if (backup->status != BACKUP_STATUS_OK &&
-				/* It is possible that previous merging was interrupted */
-				backup->status != BACKUP_STATUS_MERGING)
-				elog(ERROR, "Backup %s has status: %s",
-					 base36enc(backup->start_time), status2str(backup->status));
-
-			/* If we already found dest_backup, look for full backup */
-			if (dest_backup && backup->backup_mode == BACKUP_MODE_FULL)
-			{
-				full_backup = backup;
-				full_backup_idx = i;
-
-				/* Found target and full backups, so break the loop */
-				break;
-			}
-		}
-
-		prev_parent = backup->parent_backup;
 	}
 
+	/* sanity */
 	if (dest_backup == NULL)
 		elog(ERROR, "Target backup %s was not found", base36enc(backup_id));
+
+	/* get full backup */
+	full_backup = find_parent_full_backup(dest_backup);
+
+	/* sanity */
 	if (full_backup == NULL)
 		elog(ERROR, "Parent full backup for the given backup %s was not found",
 			 base36enc(backup_id));
 
-	Assert(full_backup_idx != dest_backup_idx);
+	/* sanity */
+	if (full_backup->status != BACKUP_STATUS_OK &&
+		/* It is possible that previous merging was interrupted */
+		full_backup->status != BACKUP_STATUS_MERGING)
+			elog(ERROR, "Backup %s has status: %s",
+					base36enc(full_backup->start_time), status2str(full_backup->status));
 
-	catalog_lock_backup_list(backups, full_backup_idx, dest_backup_idx);
+	//Assert(full_backup_idx != dest_backup_idx);
+
+	/* form merge list */
+	while(dest_backup->parent_backup_link)
+	{
+		/* sanity */
+		if (dest_backup->status != BACKUP_STATUS_OK &&
+			/* It is possible that previous merging was interrupted */
+			dest_backup->status != BACKUP_STATUS_MERGING &&
+			dest_backup->status != BACKUP_STATUS_DELETING)
+				elog(ERROR, "Backup %s has status: %s",
+						base36enc(dest_backup->start_time), status2str(dest_backup->status));
+
+		parray_append(merge_list, dest_backup);
+		dest_backup = dest_backup->parent_backup_link;
+	}
+
+	/* Add FULL backup for easy locking */
+	parray_append(merge_list, full_backup);
+
+	/* Lock merge chain */
+	catalog_lock_backup_list(merge_list, parray_num(merge_list) - 1, 0);
 
 	/*
 	 * Found target and full backups, merge them and intermediate backups
 	 */
-	for (i = full_backup_idx; i > dest_backup_idx; i--)
+	for (i = parray_num(merge_list) - 2; i >= 0; i--)
 	{
-		pgBackup   *from_backup = (pgBackup *) parray_get(backups, i - 1);
+		pgBackup   *from_backup = (pgBackup *) parray_get(merge_list, i);
 
 		merge_backups(full_backup, from_backup);
 	}
@@ -149,6 +153,7 @@ do_merge(time_t backup_id)
 	/* cleanup */
 	parray_walk(backups, pgBackupFree);
 	parray_free(backups);
+	parray_free(merge_list);
 
 	elog(INFO, "Merge of backup %s completed", base36enc(backup_id));
 }
diff --git a/src/restore.c b/src/restore.c
index c8477774..38fa11ed 100644
--- a/src/restore.c
+++ b/src/restore.c
@@ -55,9 +55,6 @@ do_restore_or_validate(time_t target_backup_id, pgRecoveryTarget *rt,
 	pgBackup   *dest_backup = NULL;
 	pgBackup   *base_full_backup = NULL;
 	pgBackup   *corrupted_backup = NULL;
-	int			dest_backup_index = 0;
-	int			base_full_backup_index = 0;
-	int			corrupted_backup_index = 0;
 	char	   *action = is_restore ? "Restore":"Validate";
 	parray	   *parent_chain = NULL;
 
@@ -179,8 +176,6 @@ do_restore_or_validate(time_t target_backup_id, pgRecoveryTarget *rt,
 	if (dest_backup == NULL)
 		elog(ERROR, "Backup satisfying target options is not found.");
 
-	dest_backup_index = get_backup_index_number(backups, dest_backup);
-
 	/* If we already found dest_backup, look for full backup. */
 	if (dest_backup->backup_mode == BACKUP_MODE_FULL)
 			base_full_backup = dest_backup;
@@ -201,7 +196,7 @@ do_restore_or_validate(time_t target_backup_id, pgRecoveryTarget *rt,
 			missing_backup_start_time = tmp_backup->parent_backup;
 			missing_backup_id = base36enc_dup(tmp_backup->parent_backup);
 
-			for (j = get_backup_index_number(backups, tmp_backup); j >= 0; j--)
+			for (j = 0; j < parray_num(backups); j++)
 			{
 				pgBackup *backup = (pgBackup *) parray_get(backups, j);
 
@@ -235,7 +230,7 @@ do_restore_or_validate(time_t target_backup_id, pgRecoveryTarget *rt,
 			/* parent_backup_id contain human-readable backup ID of oldest invalid backup */
 			parent_backup_id = base36enc_dup(tmp_backup->start_time);
 
-			for (j = get_backup_index_number(backups, tmp_backup) - 1; j >= 0; j--)
+			for (j = 0; j < parray_num(backups); j++)
 			{
 
 				pgBackup *backup = (pgBackup *) parray_get(backups, j);
@@ -261,6 +256,11 @@ do_restore_or_validate(time_t target_backup_id, pgRecoveryTarget *rt,
 				}
 			}
 			tmp_backup = find_parent_full_backup(dest_backup);
+
+			/* sanity */
+			if (!tmp_backup)
+				elog(ERROR, "Parent full backup for the given backup %s was not found",
+						base36enc(dest_backup->start_time));
 		}
 
 		/*
@@ -276,8 +276,6 @@ do_restore_or_validate(time_t target_backup_id, pgRecoveryTarget *rt,
 	if (base_full_backup == NULL)
 		elog(ERROR, "Full backup satisfying target options is not found.");
 
-	base_full_backup_index = get_backup_index_number(backups, base_full_backup);
-
 	/*
 	 * Ensure that directories provided in tablespace mapping are valid
 	 * i.e. empty or not exist.
@@ -297,17 +295,16 @@ do_restore_or_validate(time_t target_backup_id, pgRecoveryTarget *rt,
 	/* Take every backup that is a child of base_backup AND parent of dest_backup
 	 * including base_backup and dest_backup
 	 */
-	for (i = base_full_backup_index; i >= dest_backup_index; i--)
-	{
-		tmp_backup = (pgBackup *) parray_get(backups, i);
 
-		if (is_parent(base_full_backup->start_time, tmp_backup, true) &&
-					is_parent(tmp_backup->start_time, dest_backup, true))
-		{
-			parray_append(parent_chain, tmp_backup);
-		}
+	tmp_backup = dest_backup;
+	while(tmp_backup->parent_backup_link)
+	{
+		parray_append(parent_chain, tmp_backup);
+		tmp_backup = tmp_backup->parent_backup_link;
 	}
 
+	parray_append(parent_chain, base_full_backup);
+
 	/* for validation or restore with enabled validation */
 	if (!is_restore || !rt->restore_no_validate)
 	{
@@ -317,7 +314,7 @@ do_restore_or_validate(time_t target_backup_id, pgRecoveryTarget *rt,
 		/*
 		 * Validate backups from base_full_backup to dest_backup.
 		 */
-		for (i = 0; i < parray_num(parent_chain); i++)
+		for (i = parray_num(parent_chain) - 1; i >= 0; i--)
 		{
 			tmp_backup = (pgBackup *) parray_get(parent_chain, i);
 
@@ -344,10 +341,6 @@ do_restore_or_validate(time_t target_backup_id, pgRecoveryTarget *rt,
 			if (tmp_backup->status != BACKUP_STATUS_OK)
 			{
 				corrupted_backup = tmp_backup;
-				/* we need corrupted backup index from 'backups' not parent_chain
-				 * so we can properly orphanize all its descendants
-				 */
-				corrupted_backup_index = get_backup_index_number(backups, corrupted_backup);
 				break;
 			}
 			/* We do not validate WAL files of intermediate backups
@@ -373,7 +366,7 @@ do_restore_or_validate(time_t target_backup_id, pgRecoveryTarget *rt,
 			char	   *corrupted_backup_id;
 			corrupted_backup_id = base36enc_dup(corrupted_backup->start_time);
 
-			for (j = corrupted_backup_index - 1; j >= 0; j--)
+			for (j = 0; j < parray_num(backups); j++)
 			{
 				pgBackup   *backup = (pgBackup *) parray_get(backups, j);
 
@@ -418,7 +411,7 @@ do_restore_or_validate(time_t target_backup_id, pgRecoveryTarget *rt,
 	 */
 	if (is_restore)
 	{
-		for (i = 0; i < parray_num(parent_chain); i++)
+		for (i = parray_num(parent_chain) - 1; i >= 0; i--)
 		{
 			pgBackup   *backup = (pgBackup *) parray_get(parent_chain, i);
 
diff --git a/src/validate.c b/src/validate.c
index 7d5e94f4..040ea793 100644
--- a/src/validate.c
+++ b/src/validate.c
@@ -452,6 +452,11 @@ do_validate_instance(void)
 					continue;
 				}
 				base_full_backup = find_parent_full_backup(current_backup);
+
+				/* sanity */
+				if (!base_full_backup)
+					elog(ERROR, "Parent full backup for the given backup %s was not found",
+							base36enc(current_backup->start_time));
 			}
 			/* chain is whole, all parents are valid at first glance,
 			 * current backup validation can proceed
@@ -568,7 +573,7 @@ do_validate_instance(void)
 
 							if (backup->status == BACKUP_STATUS_OK)
 							{
-								//tmp_backup = find_parent_full_backup(dest_backup);
+
 								/* Revalidation successful, validate corresponding WAL files */
 								validate_wal(backup, arclog_path, 0,
 											 0, 0, current_backup->tli,