diff --git a/src/event.c b/src/event.c
index dd9fe19..f1340ea 100644
--- a/src/event.c
+++ b/src/event.c
@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@ void xmpp_run_once(xmpp_ctx_t *ctx, const unsigned long timeout)
             xmpp_free(ctx, sq->data);
             tsq = sq;
             sq = sq->next;
+            conn->send_queue_len--;
             xmpp_free(ctx, tsq);
 
             /* pop the top item */