diff --git a/apps/emqx_durable_storage/src/emqx_ds_replication_layer_egress.erl b/apps/emqx_durable_storage/src/emqx_ds_replication_layer_egress.erl
index 3f9188312..1b2ac30dd 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_durable_storage/src/emqx_ds_replication_layer_egress.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_durable_storage/src/emqx_ds_replication_layer_egress.erl
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ store_batch(DB, Messages, Opts) ->
     n = 0 :: non_neg_integer(),
     n_bytes = 0 :: non_neg_integer(),
     tref :: reference(),
-    batch = [] :: [emqx_types:message()],
+    queue :: queue:queue(emqx_types:message()),
     pending_replies = [] :: [gen_server:from()]
 }).
 
@@ -143,7 +143,8 @@ init([DB, Shard]) ->
         db = DB,
         shard = Shard,
         metrics_id = MetricsId,
-        tref = start_timer()
+        tref = start_timer(),
+        queue = queue:new()
     },
     {ok, S}.
 
@@ -151,7 +152,7 @@ handle_call(#enqueue_req{message = Msg, sync = Sync, payload_bytes = NBytes}, Fr
     do_enqueue(From, Sync, Msg, NBytes, S);
 handle_call(#enqueue_atomic_req{batch = Batch, sync = Sync, payload_bytes = NBytes}, From, S) ->
     Len = length(Batch),
-    do_enqueue(From, Sync, {atomic, Len, NBytes, Batch}, NBytes, S);
+    do_enqueue(From, Sync, {atomic, Len, Batch}, NBytes, S);
 handle_call(_Call, _From, S) ->
     {reply, {error, unknown_call}, S}.
 
@@ -177,63 +178,59 @@ terminate(_Reason, _S) ->
 -define(COOLDOWN_MIN, 1000).
 -define(COOLDOWN_MAX, 5000).
 
-do_flush(S = #s{batch = []}) ->
-    S#s{tref = start_timer()};
 do_flush(
-    S = #s{batch = Messages, pending_replies = Replies, db = DB, shard = Shard}
+    S = #s{queue = Q, pending_replies = Replies, db = DB, shard = Shard}
 ) ->
-    case emqx_ds_replication_layer:ra_store_batch(DB, Shard, lists:reverse(Messages)) of
+    Messages = queue:to_list(Q),
+    case emqx_ds_replication_layer:ra_store_batch(DB, Shard, Messages) of
         ok ->
             emqx_ds_builtin_metrics:inc_egress_batches(S#s.metrics_id),
             emqx_ds_builtin_metrics:inc_egress_messages(S#s.metrics_id, S#s.n),
             emqx_ds_builtin_metrics:inc_egress_bytes(S#s.metrics_id, S#s.n_bytes),
             lists:foreach(fun(From) -> gen_server:reply(From, ok) end, Replies),
-            true = erlang:garbage_collect(),
             ?tp(
                 emqx_ds_replication_layer_egress_flush,
                 #{db => DB, shard => Shard, batch => Messages}
             ),
             lists:foreach(fun(From) -> gen_server:reply(From, ok) end, Replies),
-            true = erlang:garbage_collect(),
-            ok;
+            erlang:garbage_collect(),
+            S#s{
+                n = 0,
+                n_bytes = 0,
+                queue = queue:new(),
+                pending_replies = [],
+                tref = start_timer()
+            };
         Error ->
             emqx_ds_builtin_metrics:inc_egress_batches_retry(S#s.metrics_id),
-            true = erlang:garbage_collect(),
+            erlang:garbage_collect(),
             ?tp(
                 warning,
                 emqx_ds_replication_layer_egress_flush_failed,
                 #{db => DB, shard => Shard, reason => Error}
             ),
             Cooldown = ?COOLDOWN_MIN + rand:uniform(?COOLDOWN_MAX - ?COOLDOWN_MIN),
-            ok = timer:sleep(Cooldown),
-            %% Since we drop the entire batch here, we at least reply callers with an
-            %% error so they don't hang indefinitely in the `gen_server' call with
-            %% `infinity' timeout.
-            lists:foreach(fun(From) -> gen_server:reply(From, {error, Error}) end, Replies)
-    end,
-    S#s{
-        n = 0,
-        n_bytes = 0,
-        batch = [],
-        pending_replies = [],
-        tref = start_timer()
-    }.
+            S#s{
+                tref = start_timer(Cooldown)
+            }
+    end.
 
 do_enqueue(
     From,
     Sync,
     MsgOrBatch,
     BatchBytes,
-    S0 = #s{n = N, n_bytes = NBytes0, batch = Batch, pending_replies = Replies}
+    S0 = #s{n = N, n_bytes = NBytes0, queue = Q0, pending_replies = Replies}
 ) ->
     NBytes = NBytes0 + BatchBytes,
     NMax = application:get_env(emqx_durable_storage, egress_batch_size, 1000),
     S1 =
         case MsgOrBatch of
             {atomic, NumMsgs, Msgs} ->
-                S0#s{n = N + NumMsgs, n_bytes = NBytes, batch = Msgs ++ Batch};
+                Q = lists:foldl(fun queue:in/2, Q0, Msgs),
+                S0#s{n = N + NumMsgs, n_bytes = NBytes, queue = Q};
             Msg ->
-                S0#s{n = N + 1, n_bytes = NBytes, batch = [Msg | Batch]}
+                S0#s{n = N + 1, n_bytes = NBytes, queue = queue:in(Msg, Q0)}
         end,
     %% TODO: later we may want to delay the reply until the message is
     %% replicated, but it requies changes to the PUBACK/PUBREC flow to
@@ -264,6 +261,9 @@ do_enqueue(
 
 start_timer() ->
     Interval = application:get_env(emqx_durable_storage, egress_flush_interval, 100),
+    start_timer(Interval).
+
+start_timer(Interval) ->
     erlang:send_after(Interval, self(), ?flush).
 
 %% @doc Return approximate size of the MQTT message (it doesn't take