diff --git a/storage/remote/queue_manager.go b/storage/remote/queue_manager.go
index 8d426cace..a0e4b5b41 100644
--- a/storage/remote/queue_manager.go
+++ b/storage/remote/queue_manager.go
@@ -186,6 +186,9 @@ type StorageClient interface {
 // indicated by the provided StorageClient. Implements writeTo interface
 // used by WAL Watcher.
 type QueueManager struct {
+	// https://golang.org/pkg/sync/atomic/#pkg-note-BUG
+	lastSendTimestamp int64
+
 	logger         log.Logger
 	flushDeadline  time.Duration
 	cfg            config.QueueConfig
@@ -479,14 +482,30 @@ func (t *QueueManager) updateShardsLoop() {
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-ticker.C:
-			t.calculateDesiredShards()
+			desiredShards := t.calculateDesiredShards()
+			if desiredShards == t.numShards {
+				continue
+			}
+			// Resharding can take some time, and we want this loop
+			// to stay close to shardUpdateDuration.
+			select {
+			case t.reshardChan <- desiredShards:
+				level.Info(t.logger).Log("msg", "Remote storage resharding", "from", t.numShards, "to", numShards)
+				t.numShards = desiredShards
+			default:
+				level.Info(t.logger).Log("msg", "Currently resharding, skipping.")
+			}
 		case <-t.quit:
 			return
 		}
 	}
 }
 
-func (t *QueueManager) calculateDesiredShards() {
+// calculateDesiredShards returns the number of desired shards, which will be
+// the current QueueManager.numShards if resharding should not occur for reasons
+// outlined in this functions implementation. It is up to the caller to reshard, or not,
+// based on the return value.
+func (t *QueueManager) calculateDesiredShards() int {
 	t.samplesOut.tick()
 	t.samplesDropped.tick()
 	t.samplesOutDuration.tick()
@@ -507,7 +526,7 @@ func (t *QueueManager) calculateDesiredShards() {
 	)
 
 	if samplesOutRate <= 0 {
-		return
+		return t.numShards
 	}
 
 	// We use an integral accumulator, like in a PID, to help dampen
@@ -523,6 +542,15 @@ func (t *QueueManager) calculateDesiredShards() {
 	}
 	t.integralAccumulator += samplesPendingRate * integralGain
 
+	// We shouldn't reshard if Prometheus hasn't been able to send to the
+	// remote endpoint successfully within some period of time.
+	minSendTimestamp := time.Now().Add(-2 * time.Duration(t.cfg.BatchSendDeadline)).Unix()
+	lsts := atomic.LoadInt64(&t.lastSendTimestamp)
+	if lsts < minSendTimestamp {
+		level.Warn(t.logger).Log("msg", "Skipping resharding, last successful send was beyond threshold", "lastSendTimestamp", lsts, "minSendTimestamp", minSendTimestamp)
+		return t.numShards
+	}
+
 	var (
 		timePerSample = samplesOutDuration / samplesOutRate
 		desiredShards = timePerSample * (samplesInRate + t.integralAccumulator)
@@ -549,7 +577,7 @@ func (t *QueueManager) calculateDesiredShards() {
 	level.Debug(t.logger).Log("msg", "QueueManager.updateShardsLoop",
 		"lowerBound", lowerBound, "desiredShards", desiredShards, "upperBound", upperBound)
 	if lowerBound <= desiredShards && desiredShards <= upperBound {
-		return
+		return t.numShards
 	}
 
 	numShards := int(math.Ceil(desiredShards))
@@ -559,19 +587,7 @@ func (t *QueueManager) calculateDesiredShards() {
 	} else if numShards < t.cfg.MinShards {
 		numShards = t.cfg.MinShards
 	}
-	if numShards == t.numShards {
-		return
-	}
-
-	// Resharding can take some time, and we want this loop
-	// to stay close to shardUpdateDuration.
-	select {
-	case t.reshardChan <- numShards:
-		level.Info(t.logger).Log("msg", "Remote storage resharding", "from", t.numShards, "to", numShards)
-		t.numShards = numShards
-	default:
-		level.Info(t.logger).Log("msg", "Currently resharding, skipping.")
-	}
+	return numShards
 }
 
 func (t *QueueManager) reshardLoop() {
@@ -813,6 +829,7 @@ func (s *shards) sendSamplesWithBackoff(ctx context.Context, samples []prompb.Ti
 		if err == nil {
 			s.qm.succeededSamplesTotal.Add(float64(len(samples)))
 			s.qm.highestSentTimestampMetric.Set(float64(highest / 1000))
+			atomic.StoreInt64(&s.qm.lastSendTimestamp, time.Now().Unix())
 			return nil
 		}
 
diff --git a/storage/remote/queue_manager_test.go b/storage/remote/queue_manager_test.go
index 229bcacaf..eef8082e4 100644
--- a/storage/remote/queue_manager_test.go
+++ b/storage/remote/queue_manager_test.go
@@ -281,6 +281,51 @@ func TestReleaseNoninternedString(t *testing.T) {
 	testutil.Assert(t, metric == 0, "expected there to be no calls to release for strings that were not already interned: %d", int(metric))
 }
 
+func TestCalculateDesiredsShards(t *testing.T) {
+	type testcase struct {
+		startingShards        int
+		samplesIn, samplesOut int64
+		reshard               bool
+	}
+	cases := []testcase{
+		{
+			// Test that ensures that if we haven't successfully sent a
+			// sample recently the queue will not reshard.
+			startingShards: 10,
+			reshard:        false,
+			samplesIn:      1000,
+			samplesOut:     10,
+		},
+		{
+			startingShards: 5,
+			reshard:        true,
+			samplesIn:      1000,
+			samplesOut:     10,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, c := range cases {
+		client := NewTestStorageClient()
+		m := NewQueueManager(nil, nil, "", newEWMARate(ewmaWeight, shardUpdateDuration), config.DefaultQueueConfig, nil, nil, client, defaultFlushDeadline)
+		m.numShards = c.startingShards
+		m.samplesIn.incr(c.samplesIn)
+		m.samplesOut.incr(c.samplesOut)
+		m.lastSendTimestamp = time.Now().Unix()
+
+		// Resharding shouldn't take place if the last successful send was > batch send deadline*2 seconds ago.
+		if !c.reshard {
+			m.lastSendTimestamp = m.lastSendTimestamp - int64(3*time.Duration(config.DefaultQueueConfig.BatchSendDeadline)/time.Second)
+		}
+		m.Start()
+		desiredShards := m.calculateDesiredShards()
+		m.Stop()
+		if !c.reshard {
+			testutil.Assert(t, desiredShards == m.numShards, "expected calculateDesiredShards to not want to reshard, wants to change from %d to %d shards", m.numShards, desiredShards)
+		} else {
+			testutil.Assert(t, desiredShards != m.numShards, "expected calculateDesiredShards to want to reshard, wants to change from %d to %d shards", m.numShards, desiredShards)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func createTimeseries(n int) ([]record.RefSample, []record.RefSeries) {
 	samples := make([]record.RefSample, 0, n)
 	series := make([]record.RefSeries, 0, n)