diff --git a/doc/configuration.txt b/doc/configuration.txt
index d5a1ec82b..fc4f3a4cf 100644
--- a/doc/configuration.txt
+++ b/doc/configuration.txt
@@ -1122,6 +1122,7 @@ The following keywords are supported in the "global" section :
    - tune.maxpollevents
    - tune.maxrewrite
    - tune.pattern.cache-size
+   - tune.peers.max-updates-at-once
    - tune.pipesize
    - tune.pool-high-fd-ratio
    - tune.pool-low-fd-ratio
@@ -2931,6 +2932,15 @@ tune.pattern.cache-size <number>
   aging components. If this is not acceptable, the cache can be disabled by
   setting this parameter to 0.
 
+tune.peers.max-updates-at-once <number>
+  Sets the maximum number of stick-table updates that haproxy will try to
+  process at once when sending messages. Retrieving the data for these updates
+  requires some locking operations which can be CPU intensive on highly
+  threaded machines if unbound, and may also increase the traffic latency
+  during the initial batched transfer between an older and a newer process.
+  Conversely low values may also incur higher CPU overhead, and take longer
+  to complete. The default value is 200 and it is suggested not to change it.
+
 tune.pipesize <number>
   Sets the kernel pipe buffer size to this size (in bytes). By default, pipes
   are the default size for the system. But sometimes when using TCP splicing,
diff --git a/src/peers.c b/src/peers.c
index 3df4999f6..642ad1d24 100644
--- a/src/peers.c
+++ b/src/peers.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 
 #include <haproxy/api.h>
 #include <haproxy/applet.h>
+#include <haproxy/cfgparse.h>
 #include <haproxy/channel.h>
 #include <haproxy/cli.h>
 #include <haproxy/dict.h>
@@ -105,6 +106,9 @@
 #define PEER_LOCAL_RECONNECT_TIMEOUT 500 /* 500ms */
 #define PEER_HEARTBEAT_TIMEOUT      3000 /* 3 seconds */
 
+/* default maximum of updates sent at once */
+#define PEER_DEF_MAX_UPDATES_AT_ONCE      200
+
 /* flags for "show peers" */
 #define PEERS_SHOW_F_DICT           0x00000001 /* also show the contents of the dictionary */
 
@@ -302,6 +306,7 @@ enum {
 
 static size_t proto_len = sizeof(PEER_SESSION_PROTO_NAME) - 1;
 struct peers *cfg_peers = NULL;
+static int peers_max_updates_at_once = PEER_DEF_MAX_UPDATES_AT_ONCE;
 static void peer_session_forceshutdown(struct peer *peer);
 
 static struct ebpt_node *dcache_tx_insert(struct dcache *dc,
@@ -1559,6 +1564,7 @@ static inline int peer_send_teachmsgs(struct appctx *appctx, struct peer *p,
                                       struct shared_table *st, int locked)
 {
 	int ret, new_pushed, use_timed;
+	int updates_sent = 0;
 
 	ret = 1;
 	use_timed = 0;
@@ -1585,8 +1591,10 @@ static inline int peer_send_teachmsgs(struct appctx *appctx, struct peer *p,
 
 		/* push local updates */
 		ts = peer_stksess_lookup(st);
-		if (!ts)
+		if (!ts) {
+			ret = 1; // done
 			break;
+		}
 
 		updateid = ts->upd.key;
 		ts->ref_cnt++;
@@ -1596,9 +1604,7 @@ static inline int peer_send_teachmsgs(struct appctx *appctx, struct peer *p,
 		if (ret <= 0) {
 			HA_SPIN_LOCK(STK_TABLE_LOCK, &st->table->lock);
 			ts->ref_cnt--;
-			if (!locked)
-				HA_SPIN_UNLOCK(STK_TABLE_LOCK, &st->table->lock);
-			return ret;
+			break;
 		}
 
 		HA_SPIN_LOCK(STK_TABLE_LOCK, &st->table->lock);
@@ -1611,12 +1617,22 @@ static inline int peer_send_teachmsgs(struct appctx *appctx, struct peer *p,
 
 		/* identifier may not needed in next update message */
 		new_pushed = 0;
+
+		updates_sent++;
+		if (updates_sent >= peers_max_updates_at_once) {
+			/* pretend we're full so that we get back ASAP */
+			struct stconn *sc = appctx_sc(appctx);
+
+			sc_need_room(sc);
+			ret = -1;
+			break;
+		}
 	}
 
  out:
 	if (!locked)
 		HA_SPIN_UNLOCK(STK_TABLE_LOCK, &st->table->lock);
-	return 1;
+	return ret;
 }
 
 /*
@@ -2548,6 +2564,7 @@ static inline int peer_send_msgs(struct appctx *appctx,
 	if (peer->tables) {
 		struct shared_table *st;
 		struct shared_table *last_local_table;
+		int updates_sent = 0;
 
 		last_local_table = peer->last_local_table;
 		if (!last_local_table)
@@ -2597,6 +2614,15 @@ static inline int peer_send_msgs(struct appctx *appctx,
 			if (st == last_local_table)
 				break;
 			st = st->next;
+
+			updates_sent++;
+			if (updates_sent >= peers_max_updates_at_once) {
+				/* pretend we're full so that we get back ASAP */
+				struct stconn *sc = appctx_sc(appctx);
+
+				sc_need_room(sc);
+				return -1;
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -3997,6 +4023,36 @@ static int cli_io_handler_show_peers(struct appctx *appctx)
 	return ret;
 }
 
+/* config parser for global "tune.peers.max-updates-at-once" */
+static int cfg_parse_max_updt_at_once(char **args, int section_type, struct proxy *curpx,
+                                      const struct proxy *defpx, const char *file, int line,
+                                      char **err)
+{
+	int arg = -1;
+
+	if (too_many_args(1, args, err, NULL))
+		return -1;
+
+	if (*(args[1]) != 0)
+		arg = atoi(args[1]);
+
+	if (arg < 1) {
+		memprintf(err, "'%s' expects an integer argument greater than 0.", args[0]);
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	peers_max_updates_at_once = arg;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/* config keyword parsers */
+static struct cfg_kw_list cfg_kws = {ILH, {
+	{ CFG_GLOBAL, "tune.peers.max-updates-at-once",  cfg_parse_max_updt_at_once },
+	{ 0, NULL, NULL }
+}};
+
+INITCALL1(STG_REGISTER, cfg_register_keywords, &cfg_kws);
+
 /*
  * CLI keywords.
  */