diff --git a/lib/stompqueuemanager.php b/lib/stompqueuemanager.php
index f057bd9e41..8f0091a138 100644
--- a/lib/stompqueuemanager.php
+++ b/lib/stompqueuemanager.php
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ class StompQueueManager extends QueueManager
     
     protected $sites = array();
 
+    protected $useTransactions = true;
+    protected $transaction = null;
+    protected $transactionCount = 0;
+
     function __construct()
     {
         parent::__construct();
@@ -201,6 +205,7 @@ class StompQueueManager extends QueueManager
         } else {
             $this->doSubscribe();
         }
+        $this->begin();
         return true;
     }
     
@@ -213,6 +218,9 @@ class StompQueueManager extends QueueManager
      */
     public function finish()
     {
+        // If there are any outstanding delivered messages we haven't processed,
+        // free them for another thread to take.
+        $this->rollback();
         if ($this->sites) {
             foreach ($this->sites as $server) {
                 StatusNet::init($server);
@@ -293,7 +301,9 @@ class StompQueueManager extends QueueManager
             $notice = Notice::staticGet('id', $id);
             if (empty($notice)) {
                 $this->_log(LOG_WARNING, "Skipping missing $info");
-                $this->con->ack($frame);
+                $this->ack($frame);
+                $this->commit();
+                $this->begin();
                 $this->stats('badnotice', $queue);
                 return false;
             }
@@ -308,7 +318,9 @@ class StompQueueManager extends QueueManager
         $handler = $this->getHandler($queue);
         if (!$handler) {
             $this->_log(LOG_ERROR, "Missing handler class; skipping $info");
-            $this->con->ack($frame);
+            $this->ack($frame);
+            $this->commit();
+            $this->begin();
             $this->stats('badhandler', $queue);
             return false;
         }
@@ -320,14 +332,18 @@ class StompQueueManager extends QueueManager
             // FIXME we probably shouldn't have to do
             // this kind of queue management ourselves;
             // if we don't ack, it should resend...
-            $this->con->ack($frame);
+            $this->ack($frame);
             $this->enqueue($item, $queue);
+            $this->commit();
+            $this->begin();
             $this->stats('requeued', $queue);
             return false;
         }
 
         $this->_log(LOG_INFO, "Successfully handled $info");
-        $this->con->ack($frame);
+        $this->ack($frame);
+        $this->commit();
+        $this->begin();
         $this->stats('handled', $queue);
         return true;
     }
@@ -369,5 +385,49 @@ class StompQueueManager extends QueueManager
     {
         common_log($level, 'StompQueueManager: '.$msg);
     }
+
+    protected function begin()
+    {
+        if ($this->useTransactions) {
+            if ($this->transaction) {
+                throw new Exception("Tried to start transaction in the middle of a transaction");
+            }
+            $this->transactionCount++;
+            $this->transaction = $this->master->id . '-' . $this->transactionCount . '-' . time();
+            $this->con->begin($this->transaction);
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected function ack($frame)
+    {
+        if ($this->useTransactions) {
+            if (!$this->transaction) {
+                throw new Exception("Tried to ack but not in a transaction");
+            }
+        }
+        $this->con->ack($frame, $this->transaction);
+    }
+
+    protected function commit()
+    {
+        if ($this->useTransactions) {
+            if (!$this->transaction) {
+                throw new Exception("Tried to commit but not in a transaction");
+            }
+            $this->con->commit($this->transaction);
+            $this->transaction = null;
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected function rollback()
+    {
+        if ($this->useTransactions) {
+            if (!$this->transaction) {
+                throw new Exception("Tried to rollback but not in a transaction");
+            }
+            $this->con->commit($this->transaction);
+            $this->transaction = null;
+        }
+    }
 }