diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/scoring.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/scoring.nim
index ee4f34da0..391535726 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/scoring.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/scoring.nim
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ proc colocationFactor(g: GossipSub, peer: PubSubPeer): float64 =
 proc disconnectPeer*(g: GossipSub, peer: PubSubPeer) {.async.} =
   try:
     await g.switch.disconnect(peer.peerId)
+    peer.stopProcessingMessages()
   except CatchableError as exc: # Never cancelled
     trace "Failed to close connection", peer, error = exc.name, msg = exc.msg
 
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim
index b92c05dff..ed67709bd 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim
@@ -74,7 +74,8 @@ type
     behaviourPenalty*: float64 # the eventual penalty score
     overheadRateLimitOpt*: Opt[TokenBucket]
 
-    rpcmessagequeue*: RpcMessageQueue
+    rpcmessagequeue: RpcMessageQueue
+    queueProcessingTask: Future[void]
 
   RPCHandler* = proc(peer: PubSubPeer, data: seq[byte]): Future[void]
     {.gcsafe, raises: [].}
@@ -346,9 +347,9 @@ proc getMessage(rpcMessageQueue: RpcMessageQueue, p: PubSubPeer): Opt[seq[byte]]
     else:
       return Opt.none(seq[byte])
 
-proc processMessages(p: PubSubPeer, queue: RpcMessageQueue) {.async.} =
+proc processMessages(p: PubSubPeer) {.async.} =
   while true:
-    let m =  queue.getMessage(p)
+    let m =  p.rpcmessagequeue.getMessage(p)
     m.withValue(msg):
       if p.sendConn == nil:
         # Wait for a send conn to be setup. `connectOnce` will
@@ -376,6 +377,17 @@ proc processMessages(p: PubSubPeer, queue: RpcMessageQueue) {.async.} =
         # Include a delay or a mechanism to prevent this loop from consuming too much CPU
     await sleepAsync(10)  # For example, a 10 ms sleep
 
+proc startProcessingMessages(p: PubSubPeer) =
+  if p.queueProcessingTask.isNil:
+    p.queueProcessingTask = p.processMessages()
+
+proc stopProcessingMessages*(p: PubSubPeer) =
+  if not p.queueProcessingTask.isNil:
+    p.queueProcessingTask.cancel()
+    p.rpcmessagequeue.clear()
+    libp2p_gossipsub_priority_queue_size.set(labelValues = [$p.peerId], value = 0)
+    libp2p_gossipsub_non_priority_queue_size.set(labelValues = [$p.peerId], value = 0)
+
 proc new*(
   T: typedesc[PubSubPeer],
   peerId: PeerId,
@@ -397,4 +409,4 @@ proc new*(
   )
   result.sentIHaves.addFirst(default(HashSet[MessageId]))
   result.heDontWants.addFirst(default(HashSet[MessageId]))
-  asyncSpawn result.processMessages(result.rpcmessagequeue)
+  result.startProcessingMessages()
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpcmessagequeue.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpcmessagequeue.nim
index 3abb492fa..f90f7e315 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpcmessagequeue.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpcmessagequeue.nim
@@ -48,3 +48,7 @@ proc getNonPriorityMessage*(rpcMessageQueue: RpcMessageQueue): Opt[seq[byte]] =
         Opt.none(seq[byte])
     else:
       Opt.none(seq[byte])
+
+proc clear*(rpcMessageQueue: RpcMessageQueue) =
+  rpcMessageQueue.priorityQueue.clear()
+  rpcMessageQueue.nonPriorityQueue.clear()
\ No newline at end of file