diff --git a/flushable.go b/flushable.go
index da005d799b..69c05dec71 100644
--- a/flushable.go
+++ b/flushable.go
@@ -79,7 +79,20 @@ type flushableEntry struct {
 	// Holds the timestamp of when the flush will be issued.
 	delayedFlushForcedAt time.Time
 	// logNum corresponds to the WAL that contains the records present in the
-	// receiver.
+	// receiver. It is possible for multiple flushable entries to have the same
+	// logNum:
+	// 1. When a large batch is committed, it is not appended to the WAL.
+	// Instead, the memtable is rotated, and the large batch is appended to the
+	// flushable queue with a logNum that matches the newly immutable memtable.
+	// Care is taken in DB.flush1 to ensure that the large batch is always
+	// flushed alongside the memtable with the same logNum.
+	// 2. During recovery, we replay WAL entries into the mutable memtable. The
+	// memtable we allocate during recovery may be smaller than the memtable
+	// that corresponded to the original WAL at the time it was written. This
+	// means we may fill the memtable before finishing replaying the WAL,
+	// resulting in multiple consecutive flushable entries all with the same
+	// logNum. This is okay because we take care to flush all the flushables
+	// during Open.
 	logNum base.DiskFileNum
 	// logSize is the size in bytes of the associated WAL. Protected by DB.mu.
 	logSize uint64
diff --git a/version_set_test.go b/version_set_test.go
index 4bb3f86cce..301e515356 100644
--- a/version_set_test.go
+++ b/version_set_test.go
@@ -296,11 +296,25 @@ func TestVersionSetCheckpoint(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestVersionSetSeqNums(t *testing.T) {
-	mem := vfs.NewMem()
-	require.NoError(t, mem.MkdirAll("ext", 0755))
+	var buf struct {
+		sync.Mutex
+		bytes.Buffer
+	}
+	fs := vfs.WithLogging(vfs.NewMem(), func(format string, args ...interface{}) {
+		buf.Mutex.Lock()
+		defer buf.Mutex.Unlock()
+		fmt.Fprintf(&buf.Buffer, format, args...)
+		fmt.Fprintln(&buf)
+	})
+	defer func() {
+		if t.Failed() {
+			t.Logf("fs log:\n%s", buf.String())
+		}
+	}()
+	require.NoError(t, fs.MkdirAll("ext", 0755))
 
 	opts := &Options{
-		FS:                  mem,
+		FS:                  fs,
 		MaxManifestFileSize: 1,
 		Logger:              testutils.Logger{T: t},
 	}
@@ -308,49 +322,44 @@ func TestVersionSetSeqNums(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	// Snapshot has no files, so first edit will cause manifest rotation.
-	writeAndIngest(t, mem, d, base.MakeInternalKey([]byte("a"), 0, InternalKeyKindSet), []byte("b"), "a")
+	writeAndIngest(t, fs, d, base.MakeInternalKey([]byte("a"), 0, InternalKeyKindSet), []byte("b"), "a")
 	// Snapshot has no files, and manifest has an edit from the previous ingest,
 	// so this second ingest will cause manifest rotation.
-	writeAndIngest(t, mem, d, base.MakeInternalKey([]byte("c"), 0, InternalKeyKindSet), []byte("d"), "c")
+	writeAndIngest(t, fs, d, base.MakeInternalKey([]byte("c"), 0, InternalKeyKindSet), []byte("d"), "c")
 	require.NoError(t, d.Close())
 	d, err = Open("", opts)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	defer d.Close()
 	d.TestOnlyWaitForCleaning()
 
-	// Check that the manifest has the correct LastSeqNum, equalling the highest
-	// observed SeqNum.
-	filenames, err := mem.List("")
+	// Check that the current manifest has the correct LastSeqNum, equalling the
+	// highest observed SeqNum.
+	desc, err := Peek("", fs)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	var manifestFile vfs.File
-	for _, filename := range filenames {
-		fileType, _, ok := base.ParseFilename(mem, filename)
-		if ok && fileType == base.FileTypeManifest {
-			manifestFile, err = mem.Open(filename)
-			require.NoError(t, err)
-		}
-	}
-	require.NotNil(t, manifestFile)
-	defer manifestFile.Close()
-	rr := record.NewReader(manifestFile, 0 /* logNum */)
-	var lastSeqNum base.SeqNum
-	for {
-		r, err := rr.Next()
-		if err == io.EOF {
-			break
-		}
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-		var ve manifest.VersionEdit
-		err = ve.Decode(r)
+	require.True(t, desc.Exists)
+	func() {
+		manifestFile, err := fs.Open(desc.ManifestFilename)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
-		if ve.LastSeqNum != 0 {
-			lastSeqNum = ve.LastSeqNum
+		defer manifestFile.Close()
+		rr := record.NewReader(manifestFile, 0 /* logNum */)
+		var lastSeqNum base.SeqNum
+		for {
+			r, err := rr.Next()
+			if err == io.EOF {
+				break
+			}
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			var ve manifest.VersionEdit
+			require.NoError(t, ve.Decode(r))
+			if ve.LastSeqNum != 0 {
+				lastSeqNum = ve.LastSeqNum
+			}
 		}
-	}
-	// 2 ingestions happened, so LastSeqNum should equal base.SeqNumStart + 1.
-	require.Equal(t, base.SeqNum(11), lastSeqNum)
-	// logSeqNum is always one greater than the last assigned sequence number.
-	require.Equal(t, d.mu.versions.logSeqNum.Load(), lastSeqNum+1)
+		// 2 ingestions happened, so LastSeqNum should equal base.SeqNumStart + 1.
+		require.Equal(t, base.SeqNum(11), lastSeqNum)
+		// logSeqNum is always one greater than the last assigned sequence number.
+		require.Equal(t, d.mu.versions.logSeqNum.Load(), lastSeqNum+1)
+	}()
 }
 
 // TestLargeKeys is a datadriven test that exercises large keys with shared
diff --git a/wal/failover_manager.go b/wal/failover_manager.go
index 36c1eb9764..3874bbb2e1 100644
--- a/wal/failover_manager.go
+++ b/wal/failover_manager.go
@@ -526,9 +526,7 @@ func (wm *failoverManager) init(o Options, initial Logs) error {
 	}
 	wm.recycler.Init(o.MaxNumRecyclableLogs)
 	for _, ll := range initial {
-		if wm.recycler.MinRecycleLogNum() <= ll.Num {
-			wm.recycler.SetMinRecycleLogNum(ll.Num + 1)
-		}
+		wm.recycler.RatchetMinRecycleLogNum(ll.Num + 1)
 		var err error
 		wm.initialObsolete, err = appendDeletableLogs(wm.initialObsolete, ll)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/wal/failover_manager_test.go b/wal/failover_manager_test.go
index af5b5ec8c3..e6275a079f 100644
--- a/wal/failover_manager_test.go
+++ b/wal/failover_manager_test.go
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ func TestManagerFailover(t *testing.T) {
 				var b strings.Builder
 				fmt.Fprintf(&b, "%s\n", errorToStr(err))
 				if err == nil {
-					fmt.Fprintf(&b, "recycler min-log-num: %d\n", fm.recycler.MinRecycleLogNum())
+					fmt.Fprintf(&b, "recycler min-log-num: %d\n", fm.recycler.minRecycleLogNum)
 				}
 				return b.String()
 
diff --git a/wal/log_recycler.go b/wal/log_recycler.go
index cc327b5b98..68fd8ba0d6 100644
--- a/wal/log_recycler.go
+++ b/wal/log_recycler.go
@@ -40,16 +40,12 @@ func (r *LogRecycler) Init(maxNumLogFiles int) {
 	r.limit = maxNumLogFiles
 }
 
-// MinRecycleLogNum returns the current minimum log number that is allowed to
-// be recycled.
-func (r *LogRecycler) MinRecycleLogNum() NumWAL {
-	return NumWAL(r.minRecycleLogNum)
-}
-
-// SetMinRecycleLogNum sets the minimum log number that is allowed to be
-// recycled.
-func (r *LogRecycler) SetMinRecycleLogNum(n NumWAL) {
-	r.minRecycleLogNum = base.DiskFileNum(n)
+// RatchetMinRecycleLogNum ratchets the minimum log number that is allowed to be
+// recycled to be at least as high as the given log number.
+func (r *LogRecycler) RatchetMinRecycleLogNum(n NumWAL) {
+	if num := base.DiskFileNum(n); num > r.minRecycleLogNum {
+		r.minRecycleLogNum = num
+	}
 }
 
 // Add attempts to recycle the log file specified by logInfo. Returns true if
diff --git a/wal/standalone_manager.go b/wal/standalone_manager.go
index 7396550db4..925e08a430 100644
--- a/wal/standalone_manager.go
+++ b/wal/standalone_manager.go
@@ -67,9 +67,7 @@ func (m *StandaloneManager) init(o Options, initial Logs) error {
 		return err
 	}
 	for _, ll := range initial {
-		if m.recycler.MinRecycleLogNum() <= ll.Num {
-			m.recycler.SetMinRecycleLogNum(ll.Num + 1)
-		}
+		m.recycler.RatchetMinRecycleLogNum(ll.Num + 1)
 		m.initialObsolete, err = appendDeletableLogs(m.initialObsolete, ll)
 		if err != nil {
 			return closeAndReturnErr(err)