diff --git a/pageserver/src/deletion_queue.rs b/pageserver/src/deletion_queue.rs
index 2a98f17ec8..8561ab7055 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/deletion_queue.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/deletion_queue.rs
@@ -169,16 +169,91 @@ impl BackendQueueWorker {
         // add an ephemeral part to BackendQueueMessage::Delete that tracks which keys
         // in the deletion list may not be deleted yet, with guards to block on while
         // we wait to proceed.
+
+        // From the S3 spec
+        const MAX_KEYS_PER_DELETE: usize = 1024;
+
+        let mut accumulator = Vec::new();
+        accumulator.reserve(MAX_KEYS_PER_DELETE);
+
+        // DeletionLists we have fully ingested but might still have
+        // some keys in accumulator.
+        let mut pending_lists = Vec::new();
+
+        // DeletionLists we have fully executed, which may be deleted
+        // from remote storage.
+        let mut executed_lists: Vec<DeletionList> = Vec::new();
+
         while let Some(msg) = self.rx.recv().await {
             match msg {
-                BackendQueueMessage::Delete(list) => {
-                    for key in list.objects {
-                        // TODO: batch into DeleteObjects calls (the DeletionList is not
-                        // necessarily one batch, it can be bigger or smaller)
-                        //
-                        // TODO: if the delete fails, push the DeletionList into a retry slot
-                        // so that we try it again rather than pulling more from the channel
-                        remote_storage.delete(&key).await.expect("TODO retry");
+                BackendQueueMessage::Delete(mut list) => {
+                    if list.objects.is_empty() {
+                        // This shouldn't happen, but is harmless.  warn so that
+                        // tests will fail if we have such a bug, but proceed with
+                        // processing subsequent messages.
+                        warn!("Empty DeletionList passed to deletion backend");
+                        executed_lists.push(list);
+                        continue;
+                    }
+
+                    // This loop handles deletion lists that require multiple DeleteObjects requests,
+                    // and also handles retries if a deletion fails: we will keep going around until
+                    // we have either deleted everything, or we have a remainder in accumulator.
+                    while !list.objects.is_empty() || accumulator.len() == MAX_KEYS_PER_DELETE {
+                        let take_count = if accumulator.len() == MAX_KEYS_PER_DELETE {
+                            0
+                        } else {
+                            let available_slots = MAX_KEYS_PER_DELETE - accumulator.len();
+                            std::cmp::min(available_slots, list.objects.len())
+                        };
+
+                        for object in list.objects.drain(list.objects.len() - take_count..) {
+                            accumulator.push(object);
+                        }
+
+                        if accumulator.len() == MAX_KEYS_PER_DELETE {
+                            // Great, we got a full request: issue it.
+                            match remote_storage.delete_objects(&accumulator).await {
+                                Ok(()) => {
+                                    accumulator.clear();
+                                    executed_lists.append(&mut pending_lists);
+                                }
+                                Err(e) => {
+                                    warn!("Batch deletion failed: {e}, will retry");
+                                    // TODO: increment error counter
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    if !accumulator.is_empty() {
+                        // We have a remainder, deletion list is not fully processed yet
+                        pending_lists.push(list);
+                    } else {
+                        // We fully processed this list, it is ready for purge
+                        executed_lists.push(list);
+                    }
+
+                    let executed_keys: Vec<RemotePath> = executed_lists
+                        .iter()
+                        .take(MAX_KEYS_PER_DELETE)
+                        .map(|l| {
+                            RemotePath::new(&self.conf.remote_deletion_list_path(l.sequence))
+                                .expect("Failed to compose deletion list path")
+                        })
+                        .collect();
+                    match remote_storage.delete_objects(&executed_keys).await {
+                        Ok(()) => {
+                            executed_lists = executed_lists
+                                .into_iter()
+                                .skip(MAX_KEYS_PER_DELETE)
+                                .collect();
+                        }
+                        Err(e) => {
+                            warn!("Failed to purge deletion lists: {e}");
+                            // Do nothing: the elements remain in executed_lists, and purge will be retried
+                            // next time we process some deletions and go around the loop.
+                        }
                     }
                 }
                 BackendQueueMessage::Flush(op) => {