diff --git a/acceptance-test/src/acceptance-test/java/org/zalando/nakadi/webservice/hila/HilaAT.java b/acceptance-test/src/acceptance-test/java/org/zalando/nakadi/webservice/hila/HilaAT.java
index f55a4a28a..f6a63d277 100644
--- a/acceptance-test/src/acceptance-test/java/org/zalando/nakadi/webservice/hila/HilaAT.java
+++ b/acceptance-test/src/acceptance-test/java/org/zalando/nakadi/webservice/hila/HilaAT.java
@@ -735,6 +735,7 @@ public void whenIsLookingForDeadLetterAndSendAllEventsOneByOneThenBackToNormalBa
         Assert.assertEquals(10, client.getJsonBatches().get(0).getEvents().size());
         Assert.assertEquals("001-0001-000000000000000009", client.getJsonBatches().get(0).getCursor().getOffset());
 
+        // receive a single event in a batch and commit it so that Nakadi sends the next batch with a single event
         client.startWithAutocommit(batches -> {
             // 12 because the last one is stream limit reached debug info
             Assert.assertEquals(12, batches.size());
@@ -767,7 +768,7 @@ public void shouldSkipDeadLetterdAndConsumptionToBeContinued() throws IOExceptio
                         .anyMatch(event -> event.get("foo").equals("{\"foo\":\"bar10\"}"))) {
                     // skipp commit to introduce poison pill
                     cursorWithPoisonPill.set(streamBatch.getCursor());
-                    throw new RuntimeException();
+                    throw new RuntimeException("poison pill found");
                 } else {
                     try {
                         NakadiTestUtils.commitCursors(
diff --git a/api-consumption/src/main/java/org/zalando/nakadi/service/subscription/state/StreamingState.java b/api-consumption/src/main/java/org/zalando/nakadi/service/subscription/state/StreamingState.java
index 8465e403f..fd998e03c 100644
--- a/api-consumption/src/main/java/org/zalando/nakadi/service/subscription/state/StreamingState.java
+++ b/api-consumption/src/main/java/org/zalando/nakadi/service/subscription/state/StreamingState.java
@@ -234,11 +234,6 @@ private void rememberEvent(final ConsumedEvent event) {
     }
 
     private long getMessagesAllowedToSend() {
-        if (failedCommitPartitions.values().stream()
-                .anyMatch(Partition::isLookingForDeadLetter)) {
-            return 1;
-        }
-
         final long unconfirmed = offsets.values().stream().mapToLong(PartitionData::getUnconfirmed).sum();
         final long limit = getParameters().maxUncommittedMessages - unconfirmed;
         return getParameters().getMessagesAllowedToSend(limit, this.sentEvents);
@@ -263,8 +258,8 @@ private void streamToOutput() {
 
     private void streamToOutput(final boolean streamTimeoutReached) {
         final long currentTimeMillis = System.currentTimeMillis();
-        int messagesAllowedToSend = (int) getMessagesAllowedToSend();
         final boolean wasCommitted = isEverythingCommitted();
+        int messagesAllowedToSend = (int) getMessagesAllowedToSend();
         boolean sentSomething = false;
 
         for (final Map.Entry<EventTypePartition, PartitionData> e : offsets.entrySet()) {
@@ -272,6 +267,9 @@ private void streamToOutput(final boolean streamTimeoutReached) {
             final PartitionData partitionData = e.getValue();
             Partition partition = failedCommitPartitions.get(etp);
 
+            int messagesAllowedForPartition =
+                    (partition != null && partition.isLookingForDeadLetter()) ? 1 : messagesAllowedToSend;
+            // loop sends all the events from partition, until max uncommitted reached or no more events
             while (true) {
                 if (partition != null && partition.isLookingForDeadLetter()) {
                     final NakadiCursor lastDeadLetterCursor = getContext().getCursorConverter().convert(
@@ -283,14 +281,14 @@ private void streamToOutput(final boolean streamTimeoutReached) {
                                 .map(p -> p.toLastDeadLetterOffset(null))
                                 .toArray(Partition[]::new));
                         failedCommitPartitions.remove(etp);
-                        messagesAllowedToSend = (int) getMessagesAllowedToSend(); // fixme think
                         partition = null;
+                        messagesAllowedForPartition = messagesAllowedToSend;
                     }
                 }
 
                 final List<ConsumedEvent> toSend = partitionData.takeEventsToStream(
                         currentTimeMillis,
-                        Math.min(getBatchLimitEvents(), messagesAllowedToSend),
+                        Math.min(getBatchLimitEvents(), messagesAllowedForPartition),
                         getParameters().batchTimeoutMillis,
                         streamTimeoutReached);
 
@@ -329,7 +327,9 @@ private void streamToOutput(final boolean streamTimeoutReached) {
                 if (toSend.isEmpty()) {
                     break;
                 }
+
                 messagesAllowedToSend -= toSend.size();
+                messagesAllowedForPartition -= toSend.size();
             }
         }