diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 986a94fd2..5887fe5ab 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2916,7 +2916,7 @@ dependencies = [
 [[package]]
 name = "rustic_backend"
 version = "0.1.1"
-source = "git+https://github.com/rustic-rs/rustic_core.git#dcc7e3434fd16bfcf0df6faf343101397316f858"
+source = "git+https://github.com/rustic-rs/rustic_core.git?branch=drop-index#6e46514ab7612cab44514f33e254f0300af3d18e"
 dependencies = [
  "aho-corasick",
  "anyhow",
@@ -2948,7 +2948,7 @@ dependencies = [
 [[package]]
 name = "rustic_core"
 version = "0.2.0"
-source = "git+https://github.com/rustic-rs/rustic_core.git#dcc7e3434fd16bfcf0df6faf343101397316f858"
+source = "git+https://github.com/rustic-rs/rustic_core.git?branch=drop-index#6e46514ab7612cab44514f33e254f0300af3d18e"
 dependencies = [
  "aes256ctr_poly1305aes",
  "anyhow",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index a5dfe243c..ed5b5e497 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ rustdoc-args = ["--document-private-items", "--generate-link-to-definition"]
 
 [dependencies]
 abscissa_core = { version = "0.7.0", default-features = false, features = ["application"] }
-rustic_backend = { git = "https://github.com/rustic-rs/rustic_core.git", features = ["cli"] }
-rustic_core = { git = "https://github.com/rustic-rs/rustic_core.git", features = ["cli"] }
+rustic_backend = { git = "https://github.com/rustic-rs/rustic_core.git", branch = "drop-index", features = ["cli"] }
+rustic_core = { git = "https://github.com/rustic-rs/rustic_core.git", branch = "drop-index", features = ["cli"] }
 
 # allocators
 jemallocator-global = { version = "0.3.2", optional = true }
diff --git a/src/commands/restore.rs b/src/commands/restore.rs
index 56959d914..3daeec236 100644
--- a/src/commands/restore.rs
+++ b/src/commands/restore.rs
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ impl RestoreCmd {
 
         let dest = LocalDestination::new(&self.dest, true, !node.is_dir())?;
 
-        let restore_infos = repo.prepare_restore(&self.opts, ls.clone(), &dest, dry_run)?;
+        let restore_infos = repo.prepare_restore(&self.opts, ls, &dest, dry_run)?;
 
         let fs = restore_infos.stats.files;
         println!(
@@ -94,6 +94,10 @@ impl RestoreCmd {
         if dry_run {
             repo.warm_up(restore_infos.to_packs().into_iter())?;
         } else {
+            // save some memory
+            let repo = repo.drop_data_from_index();
+
+            let ls = repo.ls(&node, &ls_opts)?;
             repo.restore(restore_infos, &self.opts, ls, &dest)?;
             println!("restore done.");
         }