diff --git a/engine/src/p2p/core/socket.rs b/engine/src/p2p/core/socket.rs
index 90b344c8d6..16c21e40a9 100644
--- a/engine/src/p2p/core/socket.rs
+++ b/engine/src/p2p/core/socket.rs
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ const CONNECTION_HEARTBEAT_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(30);
 /// socket
 pub const DO_NOT_LINGER: i32 = 0;
 
+/// How many messages to keep in a "resend" buffer per peer
+const OUTGOING_MESSAGES_BUFFER_SIZE: i32 = 10;
+
 /// Socket to be used for connecting to peer on the network
 pub struct OutgoingSocket {
 	socket: zmq::Socket,
@@ -38,6 +41,17 @@ impl OutgoingSocket {
 		// Discard any pending messages when disconnecting a socket
 		socket.set_linger(DO_NOT_LINGER).unwrap();
 
+		// Do not buffer outgoing messages before a connection is
+		// established (this means the messages will be lost, but
+		// this prevents us from buffering messages to peers that
+		// are misconfigured, for example).
+		socket.set_immediate(true).unwrap();
+
+		// Buffer at most OUTGOING_MESSAGES_BUFFER_SIZE messages
+		// per peer (this minimises how much memory we might "leak"
+		// if they never come online again).
+		socket.set_sndhwm(OUTGOING_MESSAGES_BUFFER_SIZE).unwrap();
+
 		socket.set_ipv6(true).unwrap();
 		socket.set_reconnect_ivl(RECONNECT_INTERVAL.as_millis() as i32).unwrap();
 		socket.set_reconnect_ivl_max(RECONNECT_INTERVAL_MAX.as_millis() as i32).unwrap();
diff --git a/engine/src/p2p/core/tests.rs b/engine/src/p2p/core/tests.rs
index 756ec560f2..540662d622 100644
--- a/engine/src/p2p/core/tests.rs
+++ b/engine/src/p2p/core/tests.rs
@@ -130,12 +130,6 @@ async fn connect_two_nodes() {
 }
 
 async fn send_and_receive_message(from: &Node, to: &mut Node) -> Option<(AccountId, Vec<u8>)> {
-	println!(
-		"[{:?}] Sending from {:?} to {:?}",
-		std::time::Instant::now(),
-		from.account_id,
-		to.account_id,
-	);
 	from.msg_sender
 		.send(OutgoingMultisigStageMessages::Private(vec![(
 			to.account_id.clone(),
@@ -159,6 +153,11 @@ async fn can_connect_after_pubkey_change() {
 	let mut node1 = spawn_node(&node_key1, 0, pi1.clone(), &[pi1.clone(), pi2.clone()]);
 	let mut node2 = spawn_node(&node_key2, 1, pi2.clone(), &[pi1.clone(), pi2.clone()]);
 
+	// Since we no longer buffer messages until nodes connect, we
+	// need to explicitly wait for them to connect (this might take a
+	// while since one of them is likely to fail on the first try)
+	tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(500)).await;
+
 	// Check that node 2 can communicate with node 1:
 	send_and_receive_message(&node2, &mut node1).await.unwrap();
 	send_and_receive_message(&node1, &mut node2).await.unwrap();
@@ -174,6 +173,10 @@ async fn can_connect_after_pubkey_change() {
 	// Node 1 learn about Node 2's new key:
 	node1.peer_update_sender.send(PeerUpdate::Registered(pi2.clone())).unwrap();
 
+	// Wait for Node 1 to connect (this shouldn't take long since
+	// Node 2 is already up and we should succeed on first try)
+	tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(100)).await;
+
 	// Node 2 should be able to send messages again:
 	send_and_receive_message(&node2b, &mut node1).await.unwrap();
 	send_and_receive_message(&node1, &mut node2b).await.unwrap();