diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
index ef4cbafea..1fd9f1877 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
@@ -75,7 +75,8 @@ proc init*(_: type[GossipSubParams]): GossipSubParams =
       behaviourPenaltyDecay: 0.999,
       disconnectBadPeers: false,
       enablePX: false,
-      bandwidthEstimatebps: 100_000_000 # 100 Mbps or 12.5 MBps
+      bandwidthEstimatebps: 100_000_000, # 100 Mbps or 12.5 MBps
+      iwantTimeout: 3 * GossipSubHeartbeatInterval
     )
 
 proc validateParameters*(parameters: GossipSubParams): Result[void, cstring] =
@@ -401,6 +402,9 @@ method rpcHandler*(g: GossipSub,
     let
       msgId = msgIdResult.get
       msgIdSalted = msgId & g.seenSalt
+    g.outstandingIWANTs.withValue(msgId, iwantRequest):
+      if iwantRequest.peer.peerId == peer.peerId:
+        g.outstandingIWANTs.del(msgId)
 
     # addSeen adds salt to msgId to avoid
     # remote attacking the hash function
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/behavior.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/behavior.nim
index 326c48763..232e1aa7e 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/behavior.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/behavior.nim
@@ -253,7 +253,8 @@ proc handleIHave*(g: GossipSub,
           if not g.hasSeen(msgId):
             if peer.iHaveBudget <= 0:
               break
-            elif msgId notin res.messageIds:
+            elif msgId notin res.messageIds and msgId notin g.outstandingIWANTs:
+              g.outstandingIWANTs[msgId] = IWANTRequest(messageId: msgId, peer: peer, timestamp: Moment.now())
               res.messageIds.add(msgId)
               dec peer.iHaveBudget
               trace "requested message via ihave", messageID=msgId
@@ -299,6 +300,17 @@ proc handleIWant*(g: GossipSub,
         messages.add(msg)
   return messages
 
+proc checkIWANTTimeouts(g: GossipSub, timeoutDuration: Duration) {.raises: [].} =
+  let currentTime = Moment.now()
+  var idsToRemove = newSeq[MessageId]()
+  for msgId, request in g.outstandingIWANTs.pairs():
+    if currentTime - request.timestamp > timeoutDuration:
+      trace "IWANT request timed out", messageID=msgId, peer=request.peer
+      request.peer.behaviourPenalty += 0.1
+      idsToRemove.add(msgId)
+  for msgId in idsToRemove:
+      g.outstandingIWANTs.del(msgId)
+
 proc commitMetrics(metrics: var MeshMetrics) {.raises: [].} =
   libp2p_gossipsub_low_peers_topics.set(metrics.lowPeersTopics)
   libp2p_gossipsub_no_peers_topics.set(metrics.noPeersTopics)
@@ -704,3 +716,5 @@ proc heartbeat*(g: GossipSub) {.async.} =
     for trigger in g.heartbeatEvents:
       trace "firing heartbeat event", instance = cast[int](g)
       trigger.fire()
+
+    checkIWANTTimeouts(g, g.parameters.iwantTimeout)
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/types.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/types.nim
index 333b9fae1..25a9e636a 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/types.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/types.nim
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ type
     enablePX*: bool
 
     bandwidthEstimatebps*: int # This is currently used only for limting flood publishing. 0 disables flood-limiting completely
+    iwantTimeout*: Duration
 
   BackoffTable* = Table[string, Table[PeerId, Moment]]
   ValidationSeenTable* = Table[MessageId, HashSet[PubSubPeer]]
@@ -177,6 +178,7 @@ type
     routingRecordsHandler*: seq[RoutingRecordsHandler] # Callback for peer exchange
 
     heartbeatEvents*: seq[AsyncEvent]
+    outstandingIWANTs*: Table[MessageId, IWANTRequest]
 
   MeshMetrics* = object
     # scratch buffers for metrics
@@ -187,3 +189,8 @@ type
     lowPeersTopics*: int64 # npeers < dlow
     healthyPeersTopics*: int64 # npeers >= dlow
     underDoutTopics*: int64
+
+  IWANTRequest* = object
+    messageId*: MessageId
+    peer*: PubSubPeer
+    timestamp*: Moment
diff --git a/tests/pubsub/testgossipinternal.nim b/tests/pubsub/testgossipinternal.nim
index e574ce611..909e1d613 100644
--- a/tests/pubsub/testgossipinternal.nim
+++ b/tests/pubsub/testgossipinternal.nim
@@ -727,3 +727,101 @@ suite "GossipSub internal":
 
     await allFuturesThrowing(conns.mapIt(it.close()))
     await gossipSub.switch.stop()
+
+  asyncTest "two IHAVEs should generate only one IWANT":
+    let gossipSub = TestGossipSub.init(newStandardSwitch())
+
+    var iwantCount = 0
+
+    proc handler(peer: PubSubPeer, msg: RPCMsg) {.async.} =
+     check false
+
+    proc handler2(topic: string, data: seq[byte]) {.async.} = discard
+
+    let topic = "foobar"
+    var conns = newSeq[Connection]()
+    gossipSub.subscribe(topic, handler2)
+
+    # Setup two connections and two peers
+    var ihaveMessageId: string
+    var firstPeer: PubSubPeer
+    let seqno = @[0'u8, 1, 2, 3]
+    for i in 0..<2:
+      let conn = TestBufferStream.new(noop)
+      conns &= conn
+      let peerId = randomPeerId()
+      conn.peerId = peerId
+      let peer = gossipSub.getPubSubPeer(peerId)
+      if isNil(firstPeer):
+        firstPeer = peer
+        ihaveMessageId = byteutils.toHex(seqno) & $firstPeer.peerId
+      peer.handler = handler
+
+      # Simulate that each peer sends an IHAVE message to our node
+      let msg = ControlIHave(
+        topicID: topic,
+        messageIDs: @[ihaveMessageId.toBytes()]
+      )
+      let iwants =  gossipSub.handleIHave(peer, @[msg])
+      if iwants.messageIds.len > 0:
+        iwantCount += 1
+
+    # Verify that our node responds with only one IWANT message
+    check: iwantCount == 1
+    check: gossipSub.outstandingIWANTs.contains(ihaveMessageId.toBytes())
+
+    # Simulate that our node receives the RPCMsg in response to the IWANT
+    let actualMessageData = "Hello, World!".toBytes
+    let rpcMsg = RPCMsg(
+      messages: @[Message(
+        fromPeer: firstPeer.peerId,
+        seqno: seqno,
+        data: actualMessageData
+      )]
+    )
+    await gossipSub.rpcHandler(firstPeer, rpcMsg)
+
+    check: not gossipSub.outstandingIWANTs.contains(ihaveMessageId.toBytes())
+
+    await allFuturesThrowing(conns.mapIt(it.close()))
+    await gossipSub.switch.stop()
+
+  asyncTest "handle unanswered IWANT messages":
+    let gossipSub = TestGossipSub.init(newStandardSwitch())
+    gossipSub.parameters.heartbeatInterval = 50.milliseconds
+    gossipSub.parameters.iwantTimeout = 10.milliseconds
+    await gossipSub.start()
+
+    proc handler(peer: PubSubPeer, msg: RPCMsg) {.async.} = discard
+    proc handler2(topic: string, data: seq[byte]) {.async.} = discard
+
+    let topic = "foobar"
+    var conns = newSeq[Connection]()
+    gossipSub.subscribe(topic, handler2)
+
+    # Setup a connection and a peer
+    let conn = TestBufferStream.new(noop)
+    conns &= conn
+    let peerId = randomPeerId()
+    conn.peerId = peerId
+    let peer = gossipSub.getPubSubPeer(peerId)
+    peer.handler = handler
+
+    # Simulate that the peer sends an IHAVE message to our node
+    let ihaveMessageId = @[0'u8, 1, 2, 3]
+    let ihaveMsg = ControlIHave(
+      topicID: topic,
+      messageIDs: @[ihaveMessageId]
+    )
+    discard gossipSub.handleIHave(peer, @[ihaveMsg])
+
+    check: gossipSub.outstandingIWANTs.contains(ihaveMessageId)
+    check: peer.behaviourPenalty == 0.0
+
+    await sleepAsync(60.milliseconds)
+
+    check: not gossipSub.outstandingIWANTs.contains(ihaveMessageId)
+    check: peer.behaviourPenalty == 0.1
+
+    await allFuturesThrowing(conns.mapIt(it.close()))
+    await gossipSub.switch.stop()