diff --git a/federationsender/queue/destinationqueue.go b/federationsender/queue/destinationqueue.go
index 9b3f749c0..231f08c67 100644
--- a/federationsender/queue/destinationqueue.go
+++ b/federationsender/queue/destinationqueue.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/matrix-org/gomatrixserverlib"
 	"github.com/matrix-org/util"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	"go.uber.org/atomic"
 )
 
 // destinationQueue is a queue of events for a single destination.
@@ -34,10 +35,10 @@ type destinationQueue struct {
 	client      *gomatrixserverlib.FederationClient
 	origin      gomatrixserverlib.ServerName
 	destination gomatrixserverlib.ServerName
-	// The running mutex protects running, sentCounter, lastTransactionIDs and
+	running     atomic.Bool
+	// The running mutex protects sentCounter, lastTransactionIDs and
 	// pendingEvents, pendingEDUs.
 	runningMutex       sync.Mutex
-	running            bool
 	sentCounter        int
 	lastTransactionIDs []gomatrixserverlib.TransactionID
 	pendingEvents      []*gomatrixserverlib.HeaderedEvent
@@ -52,39 +53,43 @@ func (oq *destinationQueue) sendEvent(ev *gomatrixserverlib.HeaderedEvent) {
 	oq.runningMutex.Lock()
 	defer oq.runningMutex.Unlock()
 	oq.pendingEvents = append(oq.pendingEvents, ev)
-	if !oq.running {
-		oq.running = true
+	if !oq.running.Load() {
 		go oq.backgroundSend()
 	}
 }
 
 // sendEDU adds the EDU event to the pending queue for the destination.
 // If the queue is empty then it starts a background goroutine to
-// start sending event to that destination.
+// start sending events to that destination.
 func (oq *destinationQueue) sendEDU(e *gomatrixserverlib.EDU) {
 	oq.runningMutex.Lock()
 	defer oq.runningMutex.Unlock()
 	oq.pendingEDUs = append(oq.pendingEDUs, e)
-	if !oq.running {
-		oq.running = true
+	if !oq.running.Load() {
 		go oq.backgroundSend()
 	}
 }
 
+// sendInvite adds the invite event to the pending queue for the
+// destination. If the queue is empty then it starts a background
+// goroutine to start sending events to that destination.
 func (oq *destinationQueue) sendInvite(ev *gomatrixserverlib.InviteV2Request) {
 	oq.runningMutex.Lock()
 	defer oq.runningMutex.Unlock()
 	oq.pendingInvites = append(oq.pendingInvites, ev)
-	if !oq.running {
-		oq.running = true
+	if !oq.running.Load() {
 		go oq.backgroundSend()
 	}
 }
 
+// backgroundSend is the worker goroutine for sending events.
 func (oq *destinationQueue) backgroundSend() {
+	oq.running.Store(true)
+	defer oq.running.Store(false)
+
 	for {
-		t := oq.next()
-		if t == nil {
+		transaction, invites := oq.nextTransaction(), oq.nextInvites()
+		if !transaction && !invites {
 			// If the queue is empty then stop processing for this destination.
 			// TODO: Remove this destination from the queue map.
 			return
@@ -92,48 +97,18 @@ func (oq *destinationQueue) backgroundSend() {
 
 		// TODO: handle retries.
 		// TODO: blacklist uncooperative servers.
-
-		util.GetLogger(context.TODO()).Infof("Sending transaction %q containing %d PDUs, %d EDUs", t.TransactionID, len(t.PDUs), len(t.EDUs))
-
-		_, err := oq.client.SendTransaction(context.TODO(), *t)
-		if err != nil {
-			log.WithFields(log.Fields{
-				"destination": oq.destination,
-				log.ErrorKey:  err,
-			}).Info("problem sending transaction")
-		}
 	}
 }
 
-// next creates a new transaction from the pending event queue
-// and flushes the queue.
+// nextTransaction creates a new transaction from the pending event
+// queue and sends it.
 // Returns nil if the queue was empty.
-func (oq *destinationQueue) next() *gomatrixserverlib.Transaction {
+func (oq *destinationQueue) nextTransaction() bool {
 	oq.runningMutex.Lock()
 	defer oq.runningMutex.Unlock()
 
-	if len(oq.pendingEvents) == 0 && len(oq.pendingEDUs) == 0 && len(oq.pendingInvites) == 0 {
-		oq.running = false
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	if len(oq.pendingInvites) > 0 {
-		for _, inviteReq := range oq.pendingInvites {
-			ev := inviteReq.Event()
-
-			if _, err := oq.client.SendInviteV2(
-				context.TODO(),
-				oq.destination,
-				*inviteReq,
-			); err != nil {
-				log.WithFields(log.Fields{
-					"event_id":    ev.EventID(),
-					"state_key":   ev.StateKey(),
-					"destination": oq.destination,
-				}).WithError(err).Error("failed to send invite")
-			}
-		}
-		oq.pendingInvites = oq.pendingInvites[:0]
+	if len(oq.pendingEvents) == 0 && len(oq.pendingEDUs) == 0 {
+		return false
 	}
 
 	t := gomatrixserverlib.Transaction{
@@ -166,5 +141,44 @@ func (oq *destinationQueue) next() *gomatrixserverlib.Transaction {
 	oq.pendingEDUs = nil
 	oq.sentCounter += len(t.EDUs)
 
-	return &t
+	util.GetLogger(context.TODO()).Infof("Sending transaction %q containing %d PDUs, %d EDUs", t.TransactionID, len(t.PDUs), len(t.EDUs))
+
+	_, err := oq.client.SendTransaction(context.TODO(), t)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.WithFields(log.Fields{
+			"destination": oq.destination,
+			log.ErrorKey:  err,
+		}).Info("problem sending transaction")
+	}
+
+	return true
+}
+
+func (oq *destinationQueue) nextInvites() bool {
+	oq.runningMutex.Lock()
+	defer oq.runningMutex.Unlock()
+
+	if len(oq.pendingInvites) == 0 {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	for _, inviteReq := range oq.pendingInvites {
+		ev := inviteReq.Event()
+
+		if _, err := oq.client.SendInviteV2(
+			context.TODO(),
+			oq.destination,
+			*inviteReq,
+		); err != nil {
+			log.WithFields(log.Fields{
+				"event_id":    ev.EventID(),
+				"state_key":   ev.StateKey(),
+				"destination": oq.destination,
+			}).WithError(err).Error("failed to send invite")
+		}
+	}
+
+	oq.pendingInvites = nil
+
+	return true
 }