Run the following test: /** * Reproduces inconsistent delete performance with secondary indexes. * Notably, deletes on collections with multiple secondary indexes have significantly * worse performance than deletes with one index or deletes that hint a specific index. */ ( function () { const time = (fn, desc) => { print( "starting " + desc); let start = new Date(); fn(); let end = new Date(); print(desc + ": " + (end - start) + "ms" ); }; const key = 'value' ; const bulkLoad = (coll) => { coll.drop(); const DOCS = 10 * 1000; for (let i = 0; i < DOCS / 1000; i++) { let bulk = coll.initializeUnorderedBulkOp(); for (let j = 0; j < 1000; j++) { let val = i * 1000 + j; // a is not unique, b is bulk.insert({a: key, b: val, c: val}); } assert.commandWorked(bulk.execute()); } print( "inserted " + DOCS); }; const testColl = db.coll; ( function remove1() { bulkLoad(testColl); assert.commandWorked(testColl.createIndex({a: 1, b: 1})); time(() => { assert.commandWorked( db.runCommand({ delete : testColl.getName(), deletes: [{q: {a: key}, limit: 0}]})); }, "remove with 1 index" ); })(); ( function remove2() { bulkLoad(testColl); assert.commandWorked(testColl.createIndex({a: 1, b: 1})); assert.commandWorked(testColl.createIndex({a: 1, c: 1})); time(() => { assert.commandWorked( db.runCommand({ delete : testColl.getName(), deletes: [{q: {a: key}, limit: 0}]})); }, "remove with 2 indexes" ); })(); ( function remove2Hint() { bulkLoad(testColl); assert.commandWorked(testColl.createIndex({a: 1, b: 1})); assert.commandWorked(testColl.createIndex({a: 1, c: 1})); time(() => { assert.commandWorked(db.runCommand( { delete : testColl.getName(), deletes: [{q: {a: key}, limit: 0, hint: 'a_1_b_1' }]})); }, "remove with 2 indexes and a hint" ); })(); })(); Output locally: inserted 10000 starting remove with 1 index remove with 1 index: 176ms inserted 10000 starting remove with 2 indexes remove with 2 indexes: 3386ms inserted 10000 starting remove with 2 indexes and a hint remove with 2 indexes and a hint: 189ms