diff --git a/ga4gh/backend.py b/ga4gh/backend.py
index 9fd762505..919117bcf 100644
--- a/ga4gh/backend.py
+++ b/ga4gh/backend.py
@@ -274,23 +274,30 @@ def variantsGenerator(self, request):
         Returns a generator over the (variant, nextPageToken) pairs defined by
         the specified request.
         """
-        variantSetIds = request.variantSetIds
-        startVariantSetIndex = 0
+        # TODO this method should also use the interval search semantics
+        # in the readsGenerator above.
+        if len(request.variantSetIds) != 1:
+            raise exceptions.NotImplementedException(
+                "VariantSearch search over multiple variantSets not supported")
+        variantSetId = request.variantSetIds[0]
+        try:
+            variantSet = self._variantSetIdMap[request.variantSetIds[0]]
+        except KeyError:
+            raise exceptions.VariantSetNotFoundException(variantSetId)
         startPosition = request.start
         if request.pageToken is not None:
-            startVariantSetIndex, startPosition = self.parsePageToken(
-                request.pageToken, 2)
-        for variantSetIndex in range(startVariantSetIndex, len(variantSetIds)):
-            variantSetId = variantSetIds[variantSetIndex]
-            if variantSetId in self._variantSetIdMap:
-                variantSet = self._variantSetIdMap[variantSetId]
-                iterator = variantSet.getVariants(
-                    request.referenceName, startPosition, request.end,
-                    request.variantName, request.callSetIds)
-                for variant in iterator:
-                    nextPageToken = "{0}:{1}".format(
-                        variantSetIndex, variant.start + 1)
-                    yield variant, nextPageToken
+            startPosition, = self.parsePageToken(request.pageToken, 1)
+        iterator = variantSet.getVariants(
+            request.referenceName, startPosition, request.end,
+            request.variantName, request.callSetIds)
+        variant = next(iterator, None)
+        while variant is not None:
+            nextVariant = next(iterator, None)
+            nextPageToken = None
+            if nextVariant is not None:
+                nextPageToken = "{}".format(nextVariant.start)
+            yield variant, nextPageToken
+            variant = nextVariant
 
     def callSetsGenerator(self, request):
         """
diff --git a/ga4gh/cli.py b/ga4gh/cli.py
index 7799cf72b..1653b7512 100644
--- a/ga4gh/cli.py
+++ b/ga4gh/cli.py
@@ -362,12 +362,19 @@ def __init__(self, args):
         self._setRequest(request, args)
 
     def run(self):
-        if self._minimalOutput:
-            self._run(self._httpClient.searchVariants, 'id')
-        else:
-            results = self._httpClient.searchVariants(self._request)
-            for result in results:
-                self.printVariant(result)
+        # TODO this is a hack until we make a nicer interface to deal with
+        # multiple requests. The server does not support multiple values
+        # so we send of sequential requests instead.
+        request = self._request
+        variantSetIds = request.variantSetIds
+        for variantSetId in variantSetIds:
+            request.variantSetIds = [variantSetId]
+            if self._minimalOutput:
+                self._run(self._httpClient.searchVariants, 'id')
+            else:
+                results = self._httpClient.searchVariants(self._request)
+                for result in results:
+                    self.printVariant(result)
 
     def printVariant(self, variant):
         """
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_backends.py b/tests/unit/test_backends.py
index ab0a83af5..dffbc3eb5 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_backends.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_backends.py
@@ -117,7 +117,10 @@ def testSearchVariantSets(self):
             isinstance(response, protocol.GASearchVariantSetsResponse))
 
     def testSearchVariants(self):
+        variantSetIds = [
+            variantSet.id for variantSet in self.getVariantSets(pageSize=1)]
         request = protocol.GASearchVariantsRequest()
+        request.variantSetIds = variantSetIds[:1]
         responseStr = self._backend.searchVariants(request.toJsonString())
         response = protocol.GASearchVariantsResponse.fromJsonString(
             responseStr)
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_views.py b/tests/unit/test_views.py
index 2129c53d4..eaed71fe0 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_views.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_views.py
@@ -57,13 +57,15 @@ def sendRequest(self, path, request):
             versionedPath, headers=headers,
             data=request.toJsonString())
 
-    def sendVariantsSearch(
-            self, variantSetIds=[""], referenceName="", start=0, end=0):
+    def sendVariantsSearch(self):
+        response = self.sendVariantSetsSearch()
+        variantSets = protocol.GASearchVariantSetsResponse().fromJsonString(
+            response.data).variantSets
         request = protocol.GASearchVariantsRequest()
-        request.variantSetIds = variantSetIds
-        request.referenceName = referenceName
-        request.start = start
-        request.end = end
+        request.variantSetIds = [variantSets[0].id]
+        request.referenceName = "1"
+        request.start = 0
+        request.end = 1
         return self.sendRequest('/variants/search', request)
 
     def sendVariantSetsSearch(self, datasetIds=[""]):
@@ -165,7 +167,7 @@ def testVariantsSearch(self):
         self.assertEqual(200, response.status_code)
         responseData = protocol.GASearchVariantsResponse.fromJsonString(
             response.data)
-        self.assertEqual(responseData.variants, [])
+        self.assertEqual(len(responseData.variants), 1)
 
     def testVariantSetsSearch(self):
         response = self.sendVariantSetsSearch()