diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim
index bb4d4f6c9..687243e6f 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim
@@ -250,6 +250,12 @@ template sendMetrics(msg: RPCMsg): untyped =
         # metrics
         libp2p_pubsub_sent_messages.inc(labelValues = [$p.peerId, t])
 
+proc clearSendPriorityQueue(p: PubSubPeer) =
+  while p.rpcmessagequeue.sendPriorityQueue.len > 0 and p.rpcmessagequeue.sendPriorityQueue[0].finished:
+    when defined(libp2p_expensive_metrics):
+      libp2p_gossipsub_priority_queue_size.dec(labelValues = [$p.peerId])
+    discard p.rpcmessagequeue.sendPriorityQueue.popFirst()
+
 proc sendMsg(p: PubSubPeer, msg: seq[byte]) {.async.} =
   if p.sendConn == nil:
     # Wait for a send conn to be setup. `connectOnce` will
@@ -287,6 +293,7 @@ proc sendEncoded*(p: PubSubPeer, msg: seq[byte], isHighPriority: bool = false) {
     return
 
   if isHighPriority:
+    p.clearSendPriorityQueue()
     let f = p.sendMsg(msg)
     if not f.finished:
       p.rpcmessagequeue.sendPriorityQueue.addLast(f)
@@ -366,12 +373,6 @@ proc canAskIWant*(p: PubSubPeer, msgId: MessageId): bool =
       return true
   return false
 
-proc clearSendPriorityQueue(p: PubSubPeer) =
-  while p.rpcmessagequeue.sendPriorityQueue.len > 0 and p.rpcmessagequeue.sendPriorityQueue[0].finished:
-    when defined(libp2p_expensive_metrics):
-      libp2p_gossipsub_priority_queue_size.dec(labelValues = [$p.peerId])
-    discard p.rpcmessagequeue.sendPriorityQueue.popFirst()
-
 proc sendNonPriorityTask(p: PubSubPeer) {.async.} =
   while true:
      # we send non-priority messages only if there are no pending priority messages