diff --git a/gossipsub.go b/gossipsub.go
index aa499d9..fdb0054 100644
--- a/gossipsub.go
+++ b/gossipsub.go
@@ -899,18 +899,91 @@ func (gs *GossipSubRouter) sendRPC(p peer.ID, out *RPC) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	select {
-	case mch <- out:
-		gs.tracer.SendRPC(out, p)
-	default:
-		log.Infof("dropping message to peer %s: queue full", p)
+	// fragment into multiple RPCs if necessary
+	outRPCs, err := fragmentRPC(out, gs.p.maxMessageSize)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Warnf("unable to fragment message to peer %s: %s", p, err)
 		gs.tracer.DropRPC(out, p)
 		// push control messages that need to be retried
 		ctl := out.GetControl()
 		if ctl != nil {
 			gs.pushControl(p, ctl)
 		}
+		return
 	}
+
+	for _, rpc := range outRPCs {
+		select {
+		case mch <- rpc:
+			gs.tracer.SendRPC(rpc, p)
+		default:
+			log.Infof("dropping message to peer %s: queue full", p)
+			gs.tracer.DropRPC(rpc, p)
+			// push control messages that need to be retried
+			ctl := rpc.GetControl()
+			if ctl != nil {
+				gs.pushControl(p, ctl)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func fragmentRPC(rpc *RPC, limit int) ([]*RPC, error) {
+	if rpc.Size() < limit {
+		return []*RPC{rpc}, nil
+	}
+
+	c := (rpc.Size() / limit) + 1
+	rpcs := make([]*RPC, 1, c)
+	rpcs[0] = &RPC{RPC: pb.RPC{Control: &pb.ControlMessage{}}, from: rpc.from}
+	outRPC := func(sizeToAdd int) *RPC {
+		current := rpcs[len(rpcs)-1]
+		if current.Size()+sizeToAdd < limit {
+			return current
+		}
+		next := &RPC{RPC: pb.RPC{Control: &pb.ControlMessage{}}, from: rpc.from}
+		rpcs = append(rpcs, next)
+		return next
+	}
+
+	for _, msg := range rpc.GetPublish() {
+		s := msg.Size()
+		// if an individual message is too large, we can't fragment it and have to fail entirely
+		if s > limit {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("message with len=%d exceeds limit %d", s, limit)
+		}
+		out := outRPC(s)
+		out.Publish = append(out.Publish, msg)
+	}
+
+	for _, sub := range rpc.GetSubscriptions() {
+		out := outRPC(sub.Size())
+		out.Subscriptions = append(out.Subscriptions, sub)
+	}
+
+	ctl := rpc.GetControl()
+	if ctl == nil {
+		// if there were no control messages, we're done
+		return rpcs, nil
+	}
+	for _, graft := range ctl.Graft {
+		out := outRPC(graft.Size())
+		out.Control.Graft = append(out.Control.Graft, graft)
+	}
+	for _, prune := range ctl.Prune {
+		out := outRPC(prune.Size())
+		out.Control.Prune = append(out.Control.Prune, prune)
+	}
+	for _, ihave := range ctl.Ihave {
+		out := outRPC(ihave.Size())
+		out.Control.Ihave = append(out.Control.Ihave, ihave)
+	}
+	for _, iwant := range ctl.Iwant {
+		out := outRPC(iwant.Size())
+		out.Control.Iwant = append(out.Control.Iwant, iwant)
+	}
+
+	return rpcs, nil
 }
 
 func (gs *GossipSubRouter) heartbeatTimer() {
diff --git a/gossipsub_test.go b/gossipsub_test.go
index df977fa..da5f630 100644
--- a/gossipsub_test.go
+++ b/gossipsub_test.go
@@ -1487,6 +1487,46 @@ func TestGossipsubPiggybackControl(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestGossipsubRPCFragmentation(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer cancel()
+
+	h := bhost.NewBlankHost(swarmt.GenSwarm(t, ctx))
+	ps := getGossipsub(ctx, h)
+	ps.maxMessageSize = 500
+
+	blah := peer.ID("bogotr0n")
+	msgch := make(chan *RPC, 10)
+	ps.peers[blah] = msgch
+	ps.eval <- func() {
+		gs := ps.rt.(*GossipSubRouter)
+		topic := "test1"
+		gs.mesh[topic] = make(map[peer.ID]struct{})
+		gs.mesh[topic][blah] = struct{}{}
+
+		rpc := &RPC{RPC: pb.RPC{}, from: h.ID()}
+		msgs := make([]*pb.Message, 10)
+		for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
+			msgs[i] = makeTestMessage(i)
+			msgs[i].Data = make([]byte, 100)
+			rand.Read(msgs[i].Data)
+		}
+		rpc.Publish = msgs
+
+		gs.sendRPC(blah, rpc)
+		close(msgch)
+		delete(ps.peers, blah)
+	}
+
+	rpcs := make([]*RPC, 0, 10)
+	for rpc := range msgch {
+		rpcs = append(rpcs, rpc)
+	}
+	if len(rpcs) < 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected large rpc message to be fragmented before sending on output channel, got %d rpcs", len(rpcs))
+	}
+}
+
 func TestGossipsubOpportunisticGrafting(t *testing.T) {
 	originalGossipSubPruneBackoff := GossipSubPruneBackoff
 	GossipSubPruneBackoff = 500 * time.Millisecond