diff --git a/taskiq/receiver/receiver.py b/taskiq/receiver/receiver.py
index 5c2a1468..2f66a8b0 100644
--- a/taskiq/receiver/receiver.py
+++ b/taskiq/receiver/receiver.py
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ async def listen(self, finish_event: asyncio.Event) -> None:  # pragma: no cover
         if self.on_exit is not None:
             self.on_exit(self)
 
-    async def prefetcher(
+    async def prefetcher(  # noqa: C901
         self,
         queue: "asyncio.Queue[bytes | AckableMessage]",
         finish_event: asyncio.Event,
@@ -396,48 +396,59 @@ async def prefetcher(
         """
         fetched_tasks: int = 0
         iterator = self.broker.listen()
-        current_message: asyncio.Task[bytes | AckableMessage] = asyncio.create_task(
-            iterator.__anext__(),  # type: ignore
-        )
+        current_message: asyncio.Task[bytes | AckableMessage] | None = None
 
-        while True:
-            if finish_event.is_set():
-                break
-            try:
-                await self.sem_prefetch.acquire()
-                if (
-                    self.max_tasks_to_execute
-                    and fetched_tasks >= self.max_tasks_to_execute
-                ):
-                    logger.info("Max number of tasks executed.")
-                    break
-                # Here we wait for the message to be fetched,
-                # but we make it with timeout so it can be interrupted
-                done, _ = await asyncio.wait({current_message}, timeout=0.3)
-                # If the message is not fetched, we release the semaphore
-                # and continue the loop. So it will check if finished event was set.
-                if not done:
-                    self.sem_prefetch.release()
-                    continue
-                # We're done, so now we need to check
-                # whether task has returned an error.
-                message = current_message.result()
-                current_message = asyncio.create_task(iterator.__anext__())  # type: ignore
-                fetched_tasks += 1
-                await queue.put(message)
-                # Custom hooks for OTel and any future instrumentations
-                for middleware in reversed(self.broker.middlewares):
-                    if hasattr(middleware, "on_prefetch_queue_add"):
-                        await maybe_awaitable(
-                            middleware.on_prefetch_queue_add(),  # type: ignore
+        try:
+            while not finish_event.is_set():
+                try:
+                    await self.sem_prefetch.acquire()
+                    if (
+                        self.max_tasks_to_execute
+                        and fetched_tasks >= self.max_tasks_to_execute
+                    ):
+                        logger.info("Max number of tasks executed.")
+                        break
+                    if current_message is None:
+                        current_message = asyncio.create_task(
+                            iterator.__anext__(),  # type: ignore
                         )
-            except (asyncio.CancelledError, StopAsyncIteration):
-                break
-        # We don't want to fetch new messages if we are shutting down.
-        logger.info("Stopping prefetching messages...")
-        current_message.cancel()
-        await queue.put(QUEUE_DONE)
-        self.sem_prefetch.release()
+                    # Here we wait for the message to be fetched,
+                    # but we make it with timeout so it can be interrupted
+                    done, _ = await asyncio.wait({current_message}, timeout=0.3)
+                    # If the message is not fetched, we release the semaphore
+                    # and continue the loop. So it will check if finished event was set.
+                    if not done:
+                        self.sem_prefetch.release()
+                        continue
+                    # We're done, so now we need to check
+                    # whether task has returned an error.
+                    message = current_message.result()
+                    current_message = None
+                    fetched_tasks += 1
+                    await queue.put(message)
+                    # Custom hooks for OTel and any future instrumentations
+                    for middleware in reversed(self.broker.middlewares):
+                        if hasattr(middleware, "on_prefetch_queue_add"):
+                            await maybe_awaitable(
+                                middleware.on_prefetch_queue_add(),  # type: ignore
+                            )
+                except (asyncio.CancelledError, StopAsyncIteration):
+                    break
+        finally:
+            # We don't want to fetch new messages if we are shutting down.
+            logger.info("Stopping prefetching messages...")
+            # Short window to deliver, then forward or cancel.
+            if current_message is not None:
+                await asyncio.wait({current_message}, timeout=0.3)
+                if not current_message.done():
+                    current_message.cancel()
+                elif (
+                    not current_message.cancelled()
+                    and current_message.exception() is None
+                ):
+                    await queue.put(current_message.result())
+            await queue.put(QUEUE_DONE)
+            self.sem_prefetch.release()
 
     async def runner(
         self,
diff --git a/tests/receiver/test_receiver.py b/tests/receiver/test_receiver.py
index eeb29c11..f3189b91 100644
--- a/tests/receiver/test_receiver.py
+++ b/tests/receiver/test_receiver.py
@@ -600,3 +600,28 @@ async def test_no_semaphore_without_max_async_tasks() -> None:
     """Test that semaphore is None when max_async_tasks is not set."""
     receiver = get_receiver(max_async_tasks=None)
     assert receiver.sem is None
+
+
+async def test_prefetcher_does_not_pop_message_past_max_tasks() -> None:
+    """Test not pulling a message without the intention of running it."""
+    broker = AsyncQueueBroker()
+
+    @broker.task
+    async def noop() -> None:
+        return None
+
+    for _ in range(6):
+        await noop.kiq()
+
+    assert broker.queue.qsize() == 6
+
+    receiver = Receiver(
+        broker,
+        executor=ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=1),
+        max_async_tasks=1,
+        max_tasks_to_execute=5,
+    )
+
+    await receiver.listen(asyncio.Event())
+
+    assert broker.queue.qsize() == 1