diff --git a/safekeeper/src/send_interpreted_wal.rs b/safekeeper/src/send_interpreted_wal.rs
index 03874b63f5..a0bd71057d 100644
--- a/safekeeper/src/send_interpreted_wal.rs
+++ b/safekeeper/src/send_interpreted_wal.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use std::time::Duration;
 
 use anyhow::Context;
+use bytes::Bytes;
 use futures::StreamExt;
 use pageserver_api::shard::ShardIdentity;
 use postgres_backend::{CopyStreamHandlerEnd, PostgresBackend};
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@ use postgres_ffi::{get_current_timestamp, waldecoder::WalStreamDecoder};
 use pq_proto::{BeMessage, InterpretedWalRecordsBody, WalSndKeepAlive};
 use tokio::io::{AsyncRead, AsyncWrite};
 use tokio::time::MissedTickBehavior;
+use utils::lsn::Lsn;
 use utils::postgres_client::Compression;
 use utils::postgres_client::InterpretedFormat;
 use wal_decoder::models::{InterpretedWalRecord, InterpretedWalRecords};
@@ -31,6 +33,18 @@ pub(crate) struct InterpretedWalSender<'a, IO> {
     pub(crate) appname: Option<String>,
 }
 
+struct Batch {
+    wal_end_lsn: Lsn,
+    available_wal_end_lsn: Lsn,
+    records: InterpretedWalRecords,
+}
+
+struct SerializedBatch {
+    wal_end_lsn: Lsn,
+    available_wal_end_lsn: Lsn,
+    buf: Bytes,
+}
+
 impl<IO: AsyncRead + AsyncWrite + Unpin> InterpretedWalSender<'_, IO> {
     /// Send interpreted WAL to a receiver.
     /// Stops when an error occurs or the receiver is caught up and there's no active compute.
@@ -49,10 +63,29 @@ impl<IO: AsyncRead + AsyncWrite + Unpin> InterpretedWalSender<'_, IO> {
         keepalive_ticker.set_missed_tick_behavior(MissedTickBehavior::Skip);
         keepalive_ticker.reset();
 
+        let (tx, rx) = tokio::sync::mpsc::channel::<Batch>(2);
+        let batches_stream =
+            tokio_stream::wrappers::ReceiverStream::new(rx).then(|batch| async move {
+                let buf: Result<Bytes, CopyStreamHandlerEnd> = batch
+                    .records
+                    .to_wire(self.format, self.compression)
+                    .await
+                    .with_context(|| "Failed to serialize interpreted WAL")
+                    .map_err(CopyStreamHandlerEnd::from);
+
+                Result::<_, CopyStreamHandlerEnd>::Ok(SerializedBatch {
+                    wal_end_lsn: batch.wal_end_lsn,
+                    available_wal_end_lsn: batch.available_wal_end_lsn,
+                    buf: buf?,
+                })
+            });
+        let mut batches_stream = std::pin::pin!(batches_stream);
+
         loop {
             tokio::select! {
-                // Get some WAL from the stream and then: decode, interpret and send it
-                wal = stream.next() => {
+                // Get some WAL from the stream and then: decode, interpret and push it down the
+                // pipeline.
+                wal = stream.next(), if tx.capacity() > 0 => {
                     let WalBytes { wal, wal_start_lsn: _, wal_end_lsn, available_wal_end_lsn } = match wal {
                         Some(some) => some?,
                         None => { break; }
@@ -88,8 +121,15 @@ impl<IO: AsyncRead + AsyncWrite + Unpin> InterpretedWalSender<'_, IO> {
                         records,
                         next_record_lsn: max_next_record_lsn
                     };
-                    let buf = batch.to_wire(self.format, self.compression).await
-                        .with_context(|| "Failed to serialize interpreted WAL")?;
+
+                    tx.send(Batch {wal_end_lsn, available_wal_end_lsn, records: batch}).await.unwrap();
+                },
+                // For a previously interpreted batch, serialize it and push it down the wire.
+                encoded_batch = batches_stream.next() => {
+                    let SerializedBatch {wal_end_lsn, available_wal_end_lsn, buf } = match encoded_batch {
+                        Some(ser_batch) => ser_batch?,
+                        None => { break; }
+                    };
 
                     // Reset the keep alive ticker since we are sending something
                     // over the wire now.
@@ -102,7 +142,6 @@ impl<IO: AsyncRead + AsyncWrite + Unpin> InterpretedWalSender<'_, IO> {
                             data: &buf,
                         })).await?;
                 }
-
                 // Send a periodic keep alive when the connection has been idle for a while.
                 _ = keepalive_ticker.tick() => {
                     self.pgb