diff --git a/src/block.rs b/src/block.rs
index bc3e92922..ea4f7c101 100644
--- a/src/block.rs
+++ b/src/block.rs
@@ -4,11 +4,12 @@ use std::time::Duration;
 
 use arc_swap::ArcSwapOption;
 use futures::future::*;
+use futures::select;
 use futures::stream::*;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use tokio::fs;
 use tokio::prelude::*;
-use tokio::sync::{watch, Mutex};
+use tokio::sync::{watch, Mutex, Notify};
 
 use crate::data;
 use crate::data::*;
@@ -47,9 +48,13 @@ impl RpcMessage for Message {}
 
 pub struct BlockManager {
 	pub data_dir: PathBuf,
+	pub data_dir_lock: Mutex<()>,
+
 	pub rc: sled::Tree,
+
 	pub resync_queue: sled::Tree,
-	pub lock: Mutex<()>,
+	pub resync_notify: Notify,
+
 	pub system: Arc<System>,
 	rpc_client: Arc<RpcClient<Message>>,
 	pub garage: ArcSwapOption<Garage>,
@@ -75,10 +80,11 @@ impl BlockManager {
 		let rpc_client = system.rpc_client::<Message>(rpc_path);
 
 		let block_manager = Arc::new(Self {
+			data_dir,
+			data_dir_lock: Mutex::new(()),
 			rc,
 			resync_queue,
-			data_dir,
-			lock: Mutex::new(()),
+			resync_notify: Notify::new(),
 			system,
 			rpc_client,
 			garage: ArcSwapOption::from(None),
@@ -109,17 +115,20 @@ impl BlockManager {
 		// Launch 2 simultaneous workers for background resync loop preprocessing
 		for i in 0..2usize {
 			let bm2 = self.clone();
-			self.system
-				.background
-				.spawn_worker(format!("block resync worker {}", i), move |must_exit| {
-					bm2.resync_loop(must_exit)
-				})
-				.await;
+			let background = self.system.background.clone();
+			tokio::spawn(async move {
+				tokio::time::delay_for(Duration::from_secs(10)).await;
+				background
+					.spawn_worker(format!("block resync worker {}", i), move |must_exit| {
+						bm2.resync_loop(must_exit)
+					})
+					.await;
+			});
 		}
 	}
 
 	pub async fn write_block(&self, hash: &Hash, data: &[u8]) -> Result<Message, Error> {
-		let _lock = self.lock.lock().await;
+		let _lock = self.data_dir_lock.lock().await;
 
 		let mut path = self.block_dir(hash);
 		fs::create_dir_all(&path).await?;
@@ -152,7 +161,7 @@ impl BlockManager {
 		drop(f);
 
 		if data::hash(&data[..]) != *hash {
-			let _lock = self.lock.lock().await;
+			let _lock = self.data_dir_lock.lock().await;
 			warn!("Block {:?} is corrupted. Deleting and resyncing.", hash);
 			fs::remove_file(path).await?;
 			self.put_to_resync(&hash, 0)?;
@@ -212,19 +221,20 @@ impl BlockManager {
 		let mut key = u64::to_be_bytes(when).to_vec();
 		key.extend(hash.as_ref());
 		self.resync_queue.insert(key, hash.as_ref())?;
+		self.resync_notify.notify();
 		Ok(())
 	}
 
-	async fn resync_loop(self: Arc<Self>, must_exit: watch::Receiver<bool>) -> Result<(), Error> {
+	async fn resync_loop(
+		self: Arc<Self>,
+		mut must_exit: watch::Receiver<bool>,
+	) -> Result<(), Error> {
+		let mut n_failures = 0usize;
 		while !*must_exit.borrow() {
 			if let Some((time_bytes, hash_bytes)) = self.resync_queue.pop_min()? {
 				let time_msec = u64_from_bytes(&time_bytes[0..8]);
-				trace!(
-					"First in resync queue: {} (now = {})",
-					time_msec,
-					now_msec()
-				);
-				if now_msec() >= time_msec {
+				let now = now_msec();
+				if now >= time_msec {
 					let mut hash = [0u8; 32];
 					hash.copy_from_slice(hash_bytes.as_ref());
 					let hash = Hash::from(hash);
@@ -232,13 +242,29 @@ impl BlockManager {
 					if let Err(e) = self.resync_iter(&hash).await {
 						warn!("Failed to resync block {:?}, retrying later: {}", hash, e);
 						self.put_to_resync(&hash, RESYNC_RETRY_TIMEOUT.as_millis() as u64)?;
+						n_failures += 1;
+						if n_failures >= 10 {
+							warn!("Too many resync failures, throttling.");
+							tokio::time::delay_for(Duration::from_secs(1)).await;
+						}
+					} else {
+						n_failures = 0;
 					}
-					continue;
 				} else {
 					self.resync_queue.insert(time_bytes, hash_bytes)?;
+					let delay = tokio::time::delay_for(Duration::from_millis(time_msec - now));
+					select! {
+						_ = delay.fuse() => (),
+						_ = self.resync_notify.notified().fuse() => (),
+						_ = must_exit.recv().fuse() => (),
+					}
+				}
+			} else {
+				select! {
+					_ = self.resync_notify.notified().fuse() => (),
+					_ = must_exit.recv().fuse() => (),
 				}
 			}
-			tokio::time::delay_for(Duration::from_secs(1)).await;
 		}
 		Ok(())
 	}