diff --git a/electrum/submarine_swaps.py b/electrum/submarine_swaps.py
index 814cf12dd..616dae332 100644
--- a/electrum/submarine_swaps.py
+++ b/electrum/submarine_swaps.py
@@ -1518,6 +1518,7 @@ class NostrTransport(SwapServerTransport):
         self.relay_manager = None  # type: Optional[aionostr.Manager]
         self.taskgroup = OldTaskGroup()
         self._last_swapserver_relays = self._load_last_swapserver_relays()  # type: Optional[Sequence[str]]
+        self._swap_server_requests = asyncio.Queue(maxsize=5)  # type: asyncio.Queue[dict]
 
     def __enter__(self):
         asyncio.run_coroutine_threadsafe(self.main_loop(), self.network.asyncio_loop)
@@ -1547,6 +1548,7 @@ class NostrTransport(SwapServerTransport):
         if self.sm.is_server:
             tasks = [
                 self.check_direct_messages(),
+                self._handle_requests(),
             ]
         else:
             tasks = [
@@ -1807,37 +1809,42 @@ class NostrTransport(SwapServerTransport):
                 if fut:
                     fut.set_result(content)
             elif self.sm.is_server and 'method' in content:
-                try:
-                    await self._handle_request(content)
-                except Exception as e:
-                    self.logger.exception(f"failed to handle request: {content}")
-                    error_response = json.dumps({
-                        "error": str(e)[:100],
-                        "reply_to": event.id,
-                    })
-                    await self.taskgroup.spawn(self.send_direct_message(event.pubkey, error_response))
+                if self._swap_server_requests.full():
+                    self.logger.warning(f"too many swap requests, dropping incoming request: {event.id[:10]}...")
+                    continue
+                await self._swap_server_requests.put(content)
             else:
                 self.logger.info(f'unknown message {content}')
 
     @log_exceptions
-    async def _handle_request(self, request: dict) -> None:
+    async def _handle_requests(self) -> None:
         assert self.sm.is_server
-        # todo: remember event_id of already processed requests
-        method = request.pop('method')
-        event_id = request.pop('event_id')
-        event_pubkey = request.pop('event_pubkey')
-        self.logger.info(f'handle_request: id={event_id} {method} {request}')
-        if method == 'addswapinvoice':
-            r = self.sm.server_add_swap_invoice(request)
-        elif method == 'createswap':
-            r = self.sm.server_create_swap(request)
-        elif method == 'createnormalswap':
-            r = self.sm.server_create_normal_swap(request)
-        else:
-            raise Exception(method)
-        r['reply_to'] = event_id
-        self.logger.debug(f'sending response id={event_id}')
-        await self.taskgroup.spawn(self.send_direct_message(event_pubkey, json.dumps(r), retries=2))
+        while True:
+            await asyncio.sleep(5)
+            request = await self._swap_server_requests.get()
+            event_id = request.pop('event_id')
+            event_pubkey = request.pop('event_pubkey')
+            try:
+                method = request.pop('method')
+                self.logger.info(f'handle_request: id={event_id} {method} {request}')
+                if method == 'addswapinvoice':
+                    r = self.sm.server_add_swap_invoice(request)
+                elif method == 'createswap':
+                    r = self.sm.server_create_swap(request)
+                elif method == 'createnormalswap':
+                    r = self.sm.server_create_normal_swap(request)
+                else:
+                    raise Exception(method)
+                r['reply_to'] = event_id
+                self.logger.debug(f'sending response id={event_id}')
+                await self.taskgroup.spawn(self.send_direct_message(event_pubkey, json.dumps(r), retries=2))
+            except Exception as e:
+                self.logger.exception(f"failed to handle {request=}")
+                error_response = json.dumps({
+                    "error": str(e)[:100],
+                    "reply_to": event_id,
+                })
+                await self.taskgroup.spawn(self.send_direct_message(event_pubkey, error_response))
 
     def _store_last_swapserver_relays(self, relays: Sequence[str]):
         self._last_swapserver_relays = relays