diff --git a/spa/plugins/support/loop.c b/spa/plugins/support/loop.c
index deed3b177..3ddbb1cc4 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/support/loop.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/support/loop.c
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ struct impl {
 	struct spa_list destroy_list;
 	struct spa_hook_list hooks_list;
 
+	struct spa_ratelimit rate_limit;
 	int retry_timeout;
 
 	union tag head;
@@ -109,13 +110,13 @@ struct queue {
 	uint16_t next;
 
 	int ack_fd;
-	struct spa_ratelimit rate_limit;
 
 	struct spa_ringbuffer buffer;
 	uint8_t *buffer_data;
 	uint8_t buffer_mem[DATAS_SIZE + MAX_ALIGN];
-};
 
+	bool overflowed;
+};
 
 struct source_impl {
 	struct spa_source source;
@@ -223,9 +224,6 @@ static struct queue *loop_create_queue(void *object)
 	queue->impl = impl;
 	queue->ack_fd = -1;
 
-	queue->rate_limit.interval = 2 * SPA_NSEC_PER_SEC;
-	queue->rate_limit.burst = 1;
-
 	queue->buffer_data = SPA_PTR_ALIGN(queue->buffer_mem, MAX_ALIGN, uint8_t);
 	spa_ringbuffer_init(&queue->buffer);
 
@@ -336,10 +334,15 @@ static void flush_all_queues(struct impl *impl)
 			for (i = 0; i < n_queues; i++) {
 				cqueue = impl->queues[i];
 				if (spa_ringbuffer_get_read_index(&cqueue->buffer, &cindex) <
-						(int32_t)sizeof(struct invoke_item))
+						(int32_t)sizeof(struct invoke_item)) {
+					if (SPA_ATOMIC_LOAD(cqueue->overflowed) &&
+					    SPA_ATOMIC_CAS(cqueue->overflowed, true, false))
+						put_queue(impl, cqueue);
 					continue;
+				}
 
-				citem = SPA_PTROFF(cqueue->buffer_data, cindex & (DATAS_SIZE - 1), struct invoke_item);
+				citem = SPA_PTROFF(cqueue->buffer_data,
+						cindex & (DATAS_SIZE - 1), struct invoke_item);
 
 				if (item == NULL || item_compare(citem, item) < 0) {
 					item = citem;
@@ -389,7 +392,8 @@ loop_queue_invoke(void *object,
 	    const void *data,
 	    size_t size,
 	    bool block,
-	    void *user_data)
+	    void *user_data,
+	    bool in_thread)
 {
 	struct queue *queue = object;
 	struct impl *impl = queue->impl;
@@ -397,9 +401,6 @@ loop_queue_invoke(void *object,
 	int res;
 	int32_t filled;
 	uint32_t avail, idx, offset, l0;
-	bool in_thread;
-
-	in_thread = (impl->thread == 0 || pthread_equal(impl->thread, pthread_self()));
 
 	filled = spa_ringbuffer_get_write_index(&queue->buffer, &idx);
 	spa_assert_se(filled >= 0 && filled <= DATAS_SIZE && "queue xrun");
@@ -476,7 +477,10 @@ loop_queue_invoke(void *object,
 	}
 	return res;
 xrun:
-	put_queue(impl, queue);
+	/* we overflowed the queue, we can't push back the queue here
+	 * because then we will just pop it off again, so set a flag. We will
+	 * push the queue back for reuse after we flush. */
+	SPA_ATOMIC_STORE(queue->overflowed, true);
 	return -ENOSPC;
 }
 
@@ -493,6 +497,7 @@ static int loop_invoke(void *object, spa_invoke_func_t func, uint32_t seq,
 	struct queue *queue;
 	int res = 0, suppressed;
 	uint64_t nsec;
+	bool in_thread = (impl->thread == 0 || pthread_equal(impl->thread, pthread_self()));
 
 	while (true) {
 		queue = get_queue(impl);
@@ -507,17 +512,18 @@ static int loop_invoke(void *object, spa_invoke_func_t func, uint32_t seq,
 			 * and retry to get a queue */
 			if (impl->retry_timeout == 0)
 				return -EPIPE;
+
 			usleep(impl->retry_timeout);
 		} else {
-			res = loop_queue_invoke(queue, func, seq, data, size, block, user_data);
+			res = loop_queue_invoke(queue, func, seq, data, size, block, user_data, in_thread);
 			if (SPA_LIKELY(res != -ENOSPC))
 				break;
 		}
 		/* the queue was full or no more queues, retry and use another queue */
 		nsec = get_time_ns(impl->system);
-		if ((suppressed = spa_ratelimit_test(&queue->rate_limit, nsec)) >= 0) {
+		if ((suppressed = spa_ratelimit_test(&impl->rate_limit, nsec)) >= 0) {
 			spa_log_warn(impl->log, "%p: out of queues, retrying (%d suppressed)",
-					queue, suppressed);
+					impl, suppressed);
 		}
 	}
 	return res;
@@ -1220,6 +1226,8 @@ impl_init(const struct spa_handle_factory *factory,
 			SPA_VERSION_LOOP_UTILS,
 			&impl_loop_utils, impl);
 
+	impl->rate_limit.interval = 2 * SPA_NSEC_PER_SEC;
+	impl->rate_limit.burst = 1;
 	impl->retry_timeout = DEFAULT_RETRY;
 	if (info) {
 		if ((str = spa_dict_lookup(info, "loop.cancel")) != NULL &&