diff --git a/apps/emqx_resource/src/emqx_resource_worker.erl b/apps/emqx_resource/src/emqx_resource_worker.erl
index a0facbed3..eb4921c72 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_resource/src/emqx_resource_worker.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_resource/src/emqx_resource_worker.erl
@@ -871,23 +871,23 @@ estimate_size(QItem) ->
 append_queue(Id, Index, Q, Queries) when not is_binary(Q) ->
     %% we must not append a raw binary because the marshaller will get
     %% lost.
+    Q0 = replayq:append(Q, Queries),
     Q2 =
-        case replayq:overflow(Q) of
+        case replayq:overflow(Q0) of
             Overflow when Overflow =< 0 ->
-                Q;
+                Q0;
             Overflow ->
                 PopOpts = #{bytes_limit => Overflow, count_limit => 999999999},
-                {Q1, QAckRef, Items2} = replayq:pop(Q, PopOpts),
+                {Q1, QAckRef, Items2} = replayq:pop(Q0, PopOpts),
                 ok = replayq:ack(Q1, QAckRef),
                 Dropped = length(Items2),
                 emqx_resource_metrics:dropped_queue_full_inc(Id),
                 ?SLOG(error, #{msg => drop_query, reason => queue_full, dropped => Dropped}),
                 Q1
         end,
-    Q3 = replayq:append(Q2, Queries),
-    emqx_resource_metrics:queuing_set(Id, Index, queue_count(Q3)),
+    emqx_resource_metrics:queuing_set(Id, Index, queue_count(Q2)),
     ?tp(resource_worker_appended_to_queue, #{id => Id, items => Queries}),
-    Q3.
+    Q2.
 
 -spec get_first_n_from_queue(replayq:q(), pos_integer()) ->
     empty | {replayq:q(), replayq:ack_ref(), [?QUERY(_From, _Request, _HasBeenSent)]}.
diff --git a/apps/emqx_resource/test/emqx_resource_SUITE.erl b/apps/emqx_resource/test/emqx_resource_SUITE.erl
index a2767ee6c..047245c8b 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_resource/test/emqx_resource_SUITE.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_resource/test/emqx_resource_SUITE.erl
@@ -1219,6 +1219,44 @@ t_delete_and_re_create_with_same_name(_Config) ->
     ),
     ok.
 
+%% check that, if we configure a max queue size too small, then we
+%% never send requests and always overflow.
+t_always_overflow(_Config) ->
+    {ok, _} = emqx_resource:create(
+        ?ID,
+        ?DEFAULT_RESOURCE_GROUP,
+        ?TEST_RESOURCE,
+        #{name => test_resource},
+        #{
+            query_mode => sync,
+            batch_size => 1,
+            worker_pool_size => 1,
+            max_queue_bytes => 1,
+            resume_interval => 1_000
+        }
+    ),
+    ?check_trace(
+        begin
+            Payload = binary:copy(<<"a">>, 100),
+            %% since it's sync and it should never send a request, this
+            %% errors with `timeout'.
+            ?assertError(
+                timeout,
+                emqx_resource:query(
+                    ?ID,
+                    {big_payload, Payload},
+                    #{timeout => 500}
+                )
+            ),
+            ok
+        end,
+        fun(Trace) ->
+            ?assertEqual([], ?of_kind(call_query_enter, Trace)),
+            ok
+        end
+    ),
+    ok.
+
 %%------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 %% Helpers
 %%------------------------------------------------------------------------------