diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
index 31f24caac..818b21f5a 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ proc send*(p: PubSub, peer: PubSubPeer, msg: RPCMsg, isHighPriority: bool = fals
   ##
 
   trace "sending pubsub message to peer", peer, msg = shortLog(msg)
-  peer.send(msg, p.anonymize, isHighPriority)
+  asyncSpawn peer.send(msg, p.anonymize, isHighPriority)
 
 proc broadcast*(
   p: PubSub,
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim
index 20b506af4..8e2673e14 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsubpeer.nim
@@ -267,7 +267,9 @@ proc sendEncoded*(p: PubSubPeer, msg: seq[byte], isHighPriority: bool = false) {
     p.rpcmessagequeue.nonPriorityQueue.putNoWait(msg)
     when defined(libp2p_expensive_metrics):
       libp2p_gossipsub_non_priority_queue_size.inc(labelValues = [$p.peerId])
+  trace "message queued", p, msg = shortLog(msg)
   p.rpcmessagequeue.messageAvailableEvent.fire()
+  await sleepAsync(1.nanoseconds) # give a chance to the task processing the queue to run
 
 iterator splitRPCMsg(peer: PubSubPeer, rpcMsg: RPCMsg, maxSize: int, anonymize: bool): seq[byte] =
   ## This iterator takes an `RPCMsg` and sequentially repackages its Messages into new `RPCMsg` instances.
@@ -304,7 +306,7 @@ iterator splitRPCMsg(peer: PubSubPeer, rpcMsg: RPCMsg, maxSize: int, anonymize:
   else:
     trace "message too big to sent", peer, rpcMsg = shortLog(currentRPCMsg)
 
-proc send*(p: PubSubPeer, msg: RPCMsg, anonymize: bool, isHighPriority: bool = false) {.raises: [].} =
+proc send*(p: PubSubPeer, msg: RPCMsg, anonymize: bool, isHighPriority: bool = false) {.async.} =
   # When sending messages, we take care to re-encode them with the right
   # anonymization flag to ensure that we're not penalized for sending invalid
   # or malicious data on the wire - in particular, re-encoding protects against
@@ -324,11 +326,11 @@ proc send*(p: PubSubPeer, msg: RPCMsg, anonymize: bool, isHighPriority: bool = f
 
   if encoded.len > p.maxMessageSize and msg.messages.len > 1:
     for encodedSplitMsg in splitRPCMsg(p, msg, p.maxMessageSize, anonymize):
-      asyncSpawn p.sendEncoded(encodedSplitMsg, isHighPriority)
+      await p.sendEncoded(encodedSplitMsg, isHighPriority)
   else:
     # If the message size is within limits, send it as is
     trace "sending msg to peer", peer = p, rpcMsg = shortLog(msg)
-    asyncSpawn p.sendEncoded(encoded, isHighPriority)
+    await p.sendEncoded(encoded, isHighPriority)
 
 proc canAskIWant*(p: PubSubPeer, msgId: MessageId): bool =
   for sentIHave in p.sentIHaves.mitems():
@@ -339,6 +341,7 @@ proc canAskIWant*(p: PubSubPeer, msgId: MessageId): bool =
 
 proc processMessages(p: PubSubPeer) {.async.} =
   proc sendMsg(msg: seq[byte]) {.async.} =
+    trace "message dequeued", p, msg = shortLog(msg)
     if p.sendConn == nil:
       # Wait for a send conn to be setup. `connectOnce` will
       # complete this even if the sendConn setup failed