diff --git a/sdk-core/src/main/kotlin/org/dexpace/sdk/core/pagination/LinkHeaderPaginationStrategy.kt b/sdk-core/src/main/kotlin/org/dexpace/sdk/core/pagination/LinkHeaderPaginationStrategy.kt
index a470993..524f551 100644
--- a/sdk-core/src/main/kotlin/org/dexpace/sdk/core/pagination/LinkHeaderPaginationStrategy.kt
+++ b/sdk-core/src/main/kotlin/org/dexpace/sdk/core/pagination/LinkHeaderPaginationStrategy.kt
@@ -55,11 +55,10 @@ public class LinkHeaderPaginationStrategy<T>
         ): Page<T> {
             val items: List<T> = itemsExtractor(response)
             // Some servers emit multiple Link headers (one per link-value) instead of a single
-            // comma-separated header. Join with ',' so a single parser handles both shapes.
-            val linkValues: List<String> = response.headers.values(linkHeader)
-            val combined: String =
-                if (linkValues.isEmpty()) "" else linkValues.joinToString(separator = ",")
-            val nextUrlString: String? = if (combined.isEmpty()) null else extractNextUrl(combined)
+            // comma-separated header. Join with ',' so a single parser handles both shapes; an
+            // empty values list joins to "", and extractNextUrl("") already returns null.
+            val nextUrlString: String? =
+                extractNextUrl(response.headers.values(linkHeader).joinToString(separator = ","))
             // Resolve the (possibly relative) next-link target against the originating page's
             // URL. A target that cannot be parsed into a valid URL ends the stream instead of
             // aborting the whole iteration with a MalformedURLException.
diff --git a/sdk-core/src/main/kotlin/org/dexpace/sdk/core/pagination/Paginator.kt b/sdk-core/src/main/kotlin/org/dexpace/sdk/core/pagination/Paginator.kt
index 387e0f4..7b7bab8 100644
--- a/sdk-core/src/main/kotlin/org/dexpace/sdk/core/pagination/Paginator.kt
+++ b/sdk-core/src/main/kotlin/org/dexpace/sdk/core/pagination/Paginator.kt
@@ -145,13 +145,10 @@ public class Paginator<T>
             // Index into currentPage.items for the next item to emit.
             private var currentItemIndex: Int = 0
 
-            // null = first iteration (use initialRequest); else the next-page request scheduled by
-            // the previous page's strategy.parse() call.
-            private var nextRequest: Request? = null
-
-            // true once we have fetched at least one page. Used to distinguish "never fetched" from
-            // "exhausted after fetching" — both have currentPage == null right after iteration ends.
-            private var started: Boolean = false
+            // The next request to fetch: seeded with initialRequest, then replaced after each page
+            // with that page's nextPageRequest(), or null once a page reports no successor (which
+            // ends the stream on the following advance()).
+            private var nextRequest: Request? = initialRequest
 
             // true after iteration is definitively over; prevents further fetches.
             private var done: Boolean = false
@@ -190,26 +187,11 @@ public class Paginator<T>
              * [currentPage]; `false` if iteration is now done.
              */
             private fun advance(): Boolean {
-                if (pagesFetched >= maxPages) {
-                    // Safety cap reached: stop before fetching a page we would otherwise yield,
-                    // even if the previous page still reports hasNext.
-                    done = true
-                    currentPage = null
-                    return false
-                }
-                val request: Request? =
-                    if (!started) {
-                        initialRequest
-                    } else {
-                        // We have a current page that's exhausted — see if it can produce a next.
-                        val finishedPage = currentPage
-                        if (finishedPage == null || !finishedPage.hasNext) {
-                            null
-                        } else {
-                            nextRequest ?: finishedPage.nextPageRequest()
-                        }
-                    }
-                if (request == null) {
+                val request = nextRequest
+                if (request == null || pagesFetched >= maxPages) {
+                    // Either no next request is scheduled (the previous page had no successor) or
+                    // the safety cap is reached — stop before fetching a page we would otherwise
+                    // yield, even if the previous page still reports hasNext.
                     done = true
                     currentPage = null
                     return false
@@ -222,11 +204,10 @@ public class Paginator<T>
                     } finally {
                         response.close()
                     }
-                started = true
                 currentPage = page
                 currentItemIndex = 0
                 // Compute the next request now so we don't have to retain the (closed) response.
-                // If this page has no next, nextRequest stays null; advance() will treat that as done.
+                // If this page has no next, nextRequest goes null; the next advance() ends the stream.
                 nextRequest = if (page.hasNext) page.nextPageRequest() else null
                 return true
             }
diff --git a/sdk-core/src/main/kotlin/org/dexpace/sdk/core/pagination/RequestRebuilder.kt b/sdk-core/src/main/kotlin/org/dexpace/sdk/core/pagination/RequestRebuilder.kt
index d9cc884..50cee4a 100644
--- a/sdk-core/src/main/kotlin/org/dexpace/sdk/core/pagination/RequestRebuilder.kt
+++ b/sdk-core/src/main/kotlin/org/dexpace/sdk/core/pagination/RequestRebuilder.kt
@@ -114,11 +114,9 @@ internal object RequestRebuilder {
         if (existing.isEmpty()) return null
         for (segment in existing.split('&')) {
             if (segment.isEmpty()) continue
-            val eq = segment.indexOf('=')
-            val rawKey = if (eq >= 0) segment.substring(0, eq) else segment
-            if (decodeOrRaw(rawKey) == name) {
-                val rawValue = if (eq >= 0) segment.substring(eq + 1) else ""
-                return decodeOrRaw(rawValue)
+            val key = segment.substringBefore('=', segment)
+            if (decodeOrRaw(key) == name) {
+                return decodeOrRaw(segment.substringAfter('=', ""))
             }
         }
         return null