diff --git a/tinygrad/helpers.py b/tinygrad/helpers.py
index 4a9fa15019..5eeaa24023 100644
--- a/tinygrad/helpers.py
+++ b/tinygrad/helpers.py
@@ -292,9 +292,9 @@ def flat_mv(mv:memoryview): return mv if len(mv) == 0 else mv.cast("B", shape=(m
 # *** tqdm
 
 class tqdm:
-  def __init__(self, iterable=None, desc:str='', disable:bool=False, unit:str='it', unit_scale=False, total:int=0, rate:int=100):
+  def __init__(self, iterable=None, desc:str='', disable:bool=False, unit:str='it', unit_scale=False, total:Optional[int]=None, rate:int=100):
     self.iter, self.desc, self.dis, self.unit, self.unit_scale, self.rate = iterable, f"{desc}: " if desc else "", disable, unit, unit_scale, rate
-    self.st, self.i, self.n, self.skip, self.t = time.perf_counter(), -1, 0, 1, total or getattr(iterable,"__len__",lambda:0)()
+    self.st, self.i, self.n, self.skip, self.t = time.perf_counter(), -1, 0, 1, getattr(iterable, "__len__", lambda:0)() if total is None else total
     self.update(0)
   def __iter__(self):
     for item in self.iter: