diff --git a/include/openPMD/Iteration.hpp b/include/openPMD/Iteration.hpp
index 8fe2c545f9..5dc5448879 100644
--- a/include/openPMD/Iteration.hpp
+++ b/include/openPMD/Iteration.hpp
@@ -204,12 +204,19 @@ class Iteration : public Attributable
 
     /**
      * @brief Has the iteration been closed?
-     *        A closed iteration may not (yet) be reopened.
      *
      * @return Whether the iteration has been closed.
      */
     bool closed() const;
 
+    /**
+     * @brief Has the iteration been parsed yet?
+              If not, it will contain no structure yet.
+     *
+     * @return Whether the iteration has been parsed.
+     */
+    bool parsed() const;
+
     /**
      * @brief Has the iteration been closed by the writer?
      *        Background: Upon calling Iteration::close(), the openPMD API
diff --git a/src/Iteration.cpp b/src/Iteration.cpp
index 0022469fae..7a5c91e894 100644
--- a/src/Iteration.cpp
+++ b/src/Iteration.cpp
@@ -177,6 +177,20 @@ bool Iteration::closed() const
     throw std::runtime_error("Unreachable!");
 }
 
+bool Iteration::parsed() const
+{
+    switch (get().m_closed)
+    {
+    case CloseStatus::ParseAccessDeferred:
+        return false;
+    case CloseStatus::Open:
+    case CloseStatus::ClosedInFrontend:
+    case CloseStatus::Closed:
+        return true;
+    }
+    throw std::runtime_error("Unreachable!");
+}
+
 bool Iteration::closedByWriter() const
 {
     using bool_type = unsigned char;
diff --git a/src/helper/list_series.cpp b/src/helper/list_series.cpp
index 3e68bac039..7782573b11 100644
--- a/src/helper/list_series.cpp
+++ b/src/helper/list_series.cpp
@@ -118,7 +118,10 @@ std::ostream &listSeries(Series &series, bool const longer, std::ostream &out)
 
         for (auto &[index, i] : series.snapshots())
         {
-            i.open();
+            if (!i.parsed())
+            {
+                i.open();
+            }
             if (longer)
                 out << index << " ";
 
@@ -135,6 +138,10 @@ std::ostream &listSeries(Series &series, bool const longer, std::ostream &out)
                 [](std::pair<std::string, ParticleSpecies> const &p) {
                     return p.first;
                 });
+            if (!i.closed())
+            {
+                i.close();
+            }
         }
 
         if (longer)
diff --git a/test/SerialIOTest.cpp b/test/SerialIOTest.cpp
index 73e574e3e7..c5fe76208b 100644
--- a/test/SerialIOTest.cpp
+++ b/test/SerialIOTest.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 #ifdef __unix__
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
+#include <sys/resource.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
@@ -153,6 +154,13 @@ TEST_CASE("char_roundtrip", "[serial]")
 void write_and_read_many_iterations(
     std::string const &ext, bool intermittentFlushes)
 {
+#ifdef __unix__
+    struct rlimit rlim;
+    getrlimit(RLIMIT_NOFILE, &rlim);
+    auto old_soft_limit = rlim.rlim_cur;
+    rlim.rlim_cur = 512;
+    setrlimit(RLIMIT_NOFILE, &rlim);
+#endif
     // the idea here is to trigger the maximum allowed number of file handles,
     // e.g., the upper limit in "ulimit -n" (default: often 1024). Once this
     // is reached, files should be closed automatically for open iterations
@@ -165,6 +173,7 @@ void write_and_read_many_iterations(
         auxiliary::getEnvNum("OPENPMD_TEST_NFILES_MAX", 1030);
     std::string filename =
         "../samples/many_iterations/many_iterations_%T." + ext;
+    // std::cout << "WRITE " << filename << std::endl;
 
     std::vector<float> data(10);
     std::iota(data.begin(), data.end(), 0.);
@@ -187,6 +196,7 @@ void write_and_read_many_iterations(
         }
         // ~Series intentionally not yet called
 
+        // std::cout << "READ " << filename << std::endl;
         Series read(
             filename, Access::READ_ONLY, "{\"defer_iteration_parsing\": true}");
         for (auto iteration : read.iterations)
@@ -212,6 +222,10 @@ void write_and_read_many_iterations(
 
     Series list(filename, Access::READ_ONLY);
     helper::listSeries(list);
+#ifdef __unix__
+    rlim.rlim_cur = old_soft_limit;
+    setrlimit(RLIMIT_NOFILE, &rlim);
+#endif
 }
 
 TEST_CASE("write_and_read_many_iterations", "[serial]")