diff --git a/src/sinks/kafka/service.rs b/src/sinks/kafka/service.rs
index 0f1d122b7750c..607e7cd5fd4ea 100644
--- a/src/sinks/kafka/service.rs
+++ b/src/sinks/kafka/service.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,18 @@
-use std::task::{Context, Poll};
+use std::{
+    sync::{
+        atomic::{AtomicUsize, Ordering},
+        Arc,
+    },
+    task::{Context, Poll},
+    time::Duration,
+};
 
 use bytes::Bytes;
 use rdkafka::{
     error::KafkaError,
     message::OwnedHeaders,
     producer::{FutureProducer, FutureRecord},
-    util::Timeout,
+    types::RDKafkaErrorCode,
 };
 
 use crate::{kafka::KafkaStatisticsContext, sinks::prelude::*};
@@ -59,16 +66,38 @@ impl MetaDescriptive for KafkaRequest {
     }
 }
 
+/// BlockedRecordState manages state for a record blocked from being enqueued on the producer.
+struct BlockedRecordState {
+    records_blocked: Arc<AtomicUsize>,
+}
+
+impl BlockedRecordState {
+    fn new(records_blocked: Arc<AtomicUsize>) -> Self {
+        records_blocked.fetch_add(1, Ordering::Relaxed);
+        Self { records_blocked }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Drop for BlockedRecordState {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        self.records_blocked.fetch_sub(1, Ordering::Relaxed);
+    }
+}
+
 #[derive(Clone)]
 pub struct KafkaService {
     kafka_producer: FutureProducer<KafkaStatisticsContext>,
+
+    /// The number of records blocked from being enqueued on the producer.
+    records_blocked: Arc<AtomicUsize>,
 }
 
 impl KafkaService {
-    pub(crate) const fn new(
-        kafka_producer: FutureProducer<KafkaStatisticsContext>,
-    ) -> KafkaService {
-        KafkaService { kafka_producer }
+    pub(crate) fn new(kafka_producer: FutureProducer<KafkaStatisticsContext>) -> KafkaService {
+        KafkaService {
+            kafka_producer,
+            records_blocked: Arc::new(AtomicUsize::new(0)),
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -78,13 +107,21 @@ impl Service<KafkaRequest> for KafkaService {
     type Future = BoxFuture<'static, Result<Self::Response, Self::Error>>;
 
     fn poll_ready(&mut self, _cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Result<(), Self::Error>> {
-        Poll::Ready(Ok(()))
+        // The Kafka service is at capacity if any records are currently blocked from being enqueued
+        // on the producer.
+        if self.records_blocked.load(Ordering::Relaxed) > 0 {
+            Poll::Pending
+        } else {
+            Poll::Ready(Ok(()))
+        }
     }
 
     fn call(&mut self, request: KafkaRequest) -> Self::Future {
         let this = self.clone();
 
         Box::pin(async move {
+            let raw_byte_size =
+                request.body.len() + request.metadata.key.as_ref().map_or(0, |x| x.len());
             let event_byte_size = request
                 .request_metadata
                 .into_events_estimated_json_encoded_byte_size();
@@ -101,17 +138,39 @@ impl Service<KafkaRequest> for KafkaService {
                 record = record.headers(headers);
             }
 
-            // rdkafka will internally retry forever if the queue is full
-            match this.kafka_producer.send(record, Timeout::Never).await {
-                Ok((_partition, _offset)) => {
-                    let raw_byte_size =
-                        request.body.len() + request.metadata.key.map_or(0, |x| x.len());
-                    Ok(KafkaResponse {
-                        event_byte_size,
-                        raw_byte_size,
-                    })
-                }
-                Err((kafka_err, _original_record)) => Err(kafka_err),
+            // Manually poll [FutureProducer::send_result] instead of [FutureProducer::send] to track
+            // records that fail to be enqueued on the producer.
+            let mut blocked_state: Option<BlockedRecordState> = None;
+            loop {
+                match this.kafka_producer.send_result(record) {
+                    // Record was successfully enqueued on the producer.
+                    Ok(fut) => {
+                        // Drop the blocked state (if any), as the producer is no longer blocked.
+                        drop(blocked_state.take());
+                        return fut
+                            .await
+                            .expect("producer unexpectedly dropped")
+                            .map(|_| KafkaResponse {
+                                event_byte_size,
+                                raw_byte_size,
+                            })
+                            .map_err(|(err, _)| err);
+                    }
+                    // Producer queue is full.
+                    Err((
+                        KafkaError::MessageProduction(RDKafkaErrorCode::QueueFull),
+                        original_record,
+                    )) => {
+                        if blocked_state.is_none() {
+                            blocked_state =
+                                Some(BlockedRecordState::new(Arc::clone(&this.records_blocked)));
+                        }
+                        record = original_record;
+                        tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_millis(100)).await;
+                    }
+                    // A different error occurred.
+                    Err((err, _)) => return Err(err),
+                };
             }
         })
     }
diff --git a/src/sinks/kafka/sink.rs b/src/sinks/kafka/sink.rs
index 141c32f7cb3b7..db4395db15799 100644
--- a/src/sinks/kafka/sink.rs
+++ b/src/sinks/kafka/sink.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ use rdkafka::{
 };
 use snafu::{ResultExt, Snafu};
 use tokio::time::Duration;
-use tower::limit::ConcurrencyLimit;
 use vrl::path::OwnedTargetPath;
 
 use super::config::{KafkaRole, KafkaSinkConfig};
@@ -62,11 +61,6 @@ impl KafkaSink {
     }
 
     async fn run_inner(self: Box<Self>, input: BoxStream<'_, Event>) -> Result<(), ()> {
-        // rdkafka will internally retry forever, so we need some limit to prevent this from overflowing.
-        // 64 should be plenty concurrency here, as a rdkafka send operation does not block until its underlying
-        // buffer is full.
-        let service = ConcurrencyLimit::new(self.service.clone(), 64);
-
         let request_builder = KafkaRequestBuilder {
             key_field: self.key_field,
             headers_key: self.headers_key,
@@ -100,8 +94,7 @@ impl KafkaSink {
                     Ok(req) => Some(req),
                 }
             })
-            .into_driver(service)
-            .protocol("kafka")
+            .into_driver(self.service)
             .protocol("kafka")
             .run()
             .await