diff --git a/waku/v2/protocol/store/waku_store.go b/waku/v2/protocol/store/waku_store.go
index 535997c2..f35227cc 100644
--- a/waku/v2/protocol/store/waku_store.go
+++ b/waku/v2/protocol/store/waku_store.go
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ const StoreID_v20beta4 = libp2pProtocol.ID("/vac/waku/store/2.0.0-beta4")
 // MaxPageSize is the maximum number of waku messages to return per page
 const MaxPageSize = 100
 
+// MaxTimeVariance is the maximum duration in the future allowed for a message timestamp
+const MaxTimeVariance = time.Duration(20) * time.Second
+
 var (
 	// ErrNoPeersAvailable is returned when there are no store peers in the peer store
 	// that could be used to retrieve message history
@@ -44,6 +47,8 @@ var (
 
 	// ErrFailedQuery is emitted when the query fails to return results
 	ErrFailedQuery = errors.New("failed to resolve the query")
+
+	ErrFutureMessage = errors.New("message timestamp in the future")
 )
 
 func findMessages(query *pb.HistoryQuery, msgProvider MessageProvider) ([]*pb.WakuMessage, *pb.PagingInfo, error) {
@@ -199,6 +204,11 @@ func (store *WakuStore) Start(ctx context.Context) {
 }
 
 func (store *WakuStore) storeMessage(env *protocol.Envelope) error {
+	// Ensure that messages don't "jump" to the front of the queue with future timestamps
+	if env.Index().SenderTime-env.Index().ReceiverTime > int64(MaxTimeVariance) {
+		return ErrFutureMessage
+	}
+
 	err := store.msgProvider.Put(env)
 	if err != nil {
 		store.log.Error("storing message", zap.Error(err))