diff --git a/src/worker.c b/src/worker.c
index fbfbfe5..8470857 100644
--- a/src/worker.c
+++ b/src/worker.c
@@ -302,22 +302,29 @@ void pg_net_worker(__attribute__((unused)) Datum main_arg) {
       elog(DEBUG1, "Consumed " UINT64_FORMAT " request rows", requests_consumed);
 
       if (requests_consumed > 0) {
-        CurlHandle *handles = palloc(mul_size(sizeof(CurlHandle), requests_consumed));
+        CurlHandle *handles = palloc0(mul_size(sizeof(CurlHandle), guc_batch_size));
 
-        // initialize curl handles
+        // keep track of which slots are currently in use
+        bool *slot_in_use = palloc0(mul_size(sizeof(bool), guc_batch_size));
+        // and the amount of slots that are actively processing requests
+        int active_count = 0;
+
+        // initialize curl handles for the initial batch
         for (size_t j = 0; j < requests_consumed; j++) {
           init_curl_handle(&handles[j],
                            get_request_queue_row(SPI_tuptable->vals[j], SPI_tuptable->tupdesc));
-
           EREPORT_MULTI(curl_multi_add_handle(worker_state->curl_mhandle, handles[j].ez_handle));
+          slot_in_use[j] = true;
+          active_count++;
         }
 
         // start curl event loop
         int   running_handles = 0;
-        int   maxevents       = requests_consumed + 1; // 1 extra for the timer
+        int   maxevents       = guc_batch_size + 1; // 1 extra for the timer, need batch_size since we might fill more slots
         event events[maxevents];
+        CurlHandle *finished_handles[guc_batch_size];
 
-        do {
+        while (active_count > 0) {
           int nfds =
               wait_event(worker_state->epfd, events, maxevents, curl_handle_event_timeout_ms);
 
@@ -349,30 +356,93 @@ void pg_net_worker(__attribute__((unused)) Datum main_arg) {
           // insert finished responses
           CURLMsg *msg       = NULL;
           int      msgs_left = 0;
+          int      num_finished = 0; // keep track of how many handles have finished to clear later
           while ((msg = curl_multi_info_read(worker_state->curl_mhandle, &msgs_left))) {
             if (msg->msg == CURLMSG_DONE) {
               CurlHandle *handle = NULL;
               EREPORT_CURL_GETINFO(msg->easy_handle, CURLINFO_PRIVATE, &handle);
               insert_response(handle, msg->data.result);
+
+              // detach the finished handle from the multi handle
+              // (msg pointer is invalidated after this call, but all reads from
+              // msg have already been done, and msg->easy_handle as a function
+              // argument is evaluated before the call executes)
+              EREPORT_MULTI(curl_multi_remove_handle(worker_state->curl_mhandle, msg->easy_handle));
+
+              // keep a list of finished handles to cleanup and free later
+              finished_handles[num_finished] = handle;
+              num_finished++;
             } else {
               ereport(ERROR, errmsg("curl_multi_info_read(), CURLMsg=%d\n", msg->msg));
             }
           }
 
-          elog(DEBUG1, "Pending curl running_handles: %d", running_handles);
-          // run while there are curl handles, some won't finish in a single iteration since they
-          // could be slow and waiting for a timeout
-        } while (running_handles > 0);
+          // we now run two loops to be safe:
+          // 1. clear the finished handles and and count how many we found
+          // 2. read up-to that many requests from the queue
+          // 3. fill the emptied slots with these new requests
+          // More optimised would be to do this in one loop since we know how many finished,
+          // but we do not want to risk reading a request from the queue and then not having a slot for it
+          // doing it in two loops gives us a safer number of free slots
+
+          // find the slot and mark it free
+          for (int i = 0; i < guc_batch_size; i++) {
+            for (int j = 0; j < num_finished; j++) {
+              if (slot_in_use[i] && &handles[i] == finished_handles[j]) {
+                curl_easy_cleanup(handles[i].ez_handle);
+                pfree_handle(&handles[i]);
+                memset(&handles[i], 0, sizeof(CurlHandle));
+                slot_in_use[i] = false;
+                active_count--;
+                break;
+              }
+            }
+          }
+
+          int free_slots = guc_batch_size - active_count;
+          // we refill free slots only if the worker is not supposed to restart, we will continue
+          // after restart instead
+          if (!worker_should_restart && free_slots > 0) {
+            // read up to free_slots number of requests
+            uint64 new_requests = consume_request_queue(free_slots);
+            if (new_requests > 0) {
+              elog(DEBUG1, "Refilling " UINT64_FORMAT " new requests into %d free slots",
+                    new_requests, free_slots);
+
+              uint64 filled = 0;
+              for (int i = 0; i < guc_batch_size && filled < new_requests; i++) {
+                if (!slot_in_use[i]) {
+                  init_curl_handle(
+                      &handles[i],
+                      get_request_queue_row(SPI_tuptable->vals[filled], SPI_tuptable->tupdesc));
+                  EREPORT_MULTI(
+                      curl_multi_add_handle(worker_state->curl_mhandle, handles[i].ez_handle));
+                  slot_in_use[i] = true;
+                  active_count++;
+                  filled++;
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          }
+
+          // these two counts should always be in sync
+          elog(DEBUG1, "Active curl handles: %d, curl running_handles: %d", active_count,
+               running_handles);
+        }
 
-        // cleanup
-        for (uint64 i = 0; i < requests_consumed; i++) {
-          EREPORT_MULTI(curl_multi_remove_handle(worker_state->curl_mhandle, handles[i].ez_handle));
+  
+        // cleanup whatever is remaining
+        for (int i = 0; i < guc_batch_size; i++) {
+          if (slot_in_use[i]) {
+            EREPORT_MULTI(curl_multi_remove_handle(worker_state->curl_mhandle, handles[i].ez_handle));
 
-          curl_easy_cleanup(handles[i].ez_handle);
+            curl_easy_cleanup(handles[i].ez_handle);
 
-          pfree_handle(&handles[i]);
+            pfree_handle(&handles[i]);
+          }
         }
 
+        pfree(slot_in_use);
         pfree(handles);
       }