diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 66b5f57..65c424a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -32,3 +32,4 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 ### Improvements
 
 * Remove the `slab` dependency in favor of a focused internal waiter arena.
+* Reduce unbounded MPSC contention by avoiding receiver wake operations while no receive call is parked.
diff --git a/asyncband/src/channel/mpsc/unbounded.rs b/asyncband/src/channel/mpsc/unbounded.rs
index 3ee892a..bb5a37d 100644
--- a/asyncband/src/channel/mpsc/unbounded.rs
+++ b/asyncband/src/channel/mpsc/unbounded.rs
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 use std::fmt;
 use std::future::poll_fn;
 use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::sync::atomic::AtomicBool;
 use std::sync::atomic::AtomicUsize;
 use std::sync::atomic::Ordering;
 use std::task::Context;
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ use crate::internal::atomic_waker::AtomicWaker;
 pub fn unbounded<T>() -> (UnboundedSender<T>, UnboundedReceiver<T>) {
     let state = Arc::new(UnboundedState {
         senders: AtomicUsize::new(1),
+        rx_waiting: AtomicBool::new(false),
         rx_waker: AtomicWaker::new(),
     });
     let (sender, receiver) = std::sync::mpsc::channel();
@@ -59,9 +61,23 @@ pub fn unbounded<T>() -> (UnboundedSender<T>, UnboundedReceiver<T>) {
 
 struct UnboundedState {
     senders: AtomicUsize,
+    rx_waiting: AtomicBool,
     rx_waker: AtomicWaker,
 }
 
+impl UnboundedState {
+    fn wake_receiver(&self) {
+        if self.rx_waiting.load(Ordering::SeqCst)
+            && self
+                .rx_waiting
+                .compare_exchange(true, false, Ordering::SeqCst, Ordering::SeqCst)
+                .is_ok()
+        {
+            self.rx_waker.wake();
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// Send values to the associated [`UnboundedReceiver`].
 ///
 /// Instances are created by the [`unbounded`] function.
@@ -95,7 +111,7 @@ impl<T> Drop for UnboundedSender<T> {
             1 => {
                 // If this is the last sender, we need to wake up the receiver so it can
                 // observe the disconnected state.
-                self.state.rx_waker.wake();
+                self.state.wake_receiver();
             }
             _ => {
                 // there are still other senders left, do nothing
@@ -118,7 +134,7 @@ impl<T> UnboundedSender<T> {
         let sender = self.sender.as_ref().unwrap();
         sender.send(value).map_err(|err| SendError::new(err.0))?;
 
-        self.state.rx_waker.wake();
+        self.state.wake_receiver();
 
         Ok(())
     }
@@ -243,9 +259,19 @@ impl<T> UnboundedReceiver<T> {
             Err(TryRecvError::Empty) => {
                 self.state.rx_waker.register(cx.waker());
 
+                // Publishing the wait before rechecking the queue prevents a sender from being
+                // missed: it either precedes the recheck or claims this flag and wakes us.
+                self.state.rx_waiting.store(true, Ordering::SeqCst);
+
                 match self.try_recv() {
-                    Ok(v) => Poll::Ready(Ok(v)),
-                    Err(TryRecvError::Disconnected) => Poll::Ready(Err(RecvError::Disconnected)),
+                    Ok(v) => {
+                        self.state.rx_waiting.store(false, Ordering::SeqCst);
+                        Poll::Ready(Ok(v))
+                    }
+                    Err(TryRecvError::Disconnected) => {
+                        self.state.rx_waiting.store(false, Ordering::SeqCst);
+                        Poll::Ready(Err(RecvError::Disconnected))
+                    }
                     Err(TryRecvError::Empty) => Poll::Pending,
                 }
             }
diff --git a/tests-integration/tests/mpsc_test.rs b/tests-integration/tests/mpsc_test.rs
index 72256a7..6a057fc 100644
--- a/tests-integration/tests/mpsc_test.rs
+++ b/tests-integration/tests/mpsc_test.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,14 @@
 // specific language governing permissions and limitations
 // under the License.
 
+use std::future::Future;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::sync::atomic::AtomicUsize;
+use std::sync::atomic::Ordering;
+use std::task::Context;
 use std::task::Poll;
+use std::task::Wake;
+use std::task::Waker;
 use std::time::Instant;
 
 use asyncband::mpsc;
@@ -33,6 +40,14 @@ fn expect_ready<T>(poll: Poll<T>) -> T {
     }
 }
 
+struct WakeProbe(AtomicUsize);
+
+impl Wake for WakeProbe {
+    fn wake(self: Arc<Self>) {
+        self.0.fetch_add(1, Ordering::Relaxed);
+    }
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn test_unbounded_pressure() {
     let n = 1024 * 1024;
@@ -209,6 +224,46 @@ fn try_recv_close_while_empty_unbounded() {
     assert_eq!(Err(TryRecvError::Disconnected), rx.try_recv());
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn unbounded_burst_wakes_parked_receiver_once() {
+    let (tx, mut rx) = mpsc::unbounded();
+    let probe = Arc::new(WakeProbe(AtomicUsize::new(0)));
+    let waker = Waker::from(probe.clone());
+    let mut context = Context::from_waker(&waker);
+    let mut recv = Box::pin(rx.recv());
+
+    assert!(recv.as_mut().poll(&mut context).is_pending());
+    for value in 0..100 {
+        tx.send(value).unwrap();
+    }
+
+    assert_eq!(probe.0.load(Ordering::Relaxed), 1);
+    assert_eq!(expect_ready(recv.as_mut().poll(&mut context)), Ok(0));
+    drop(recv);
+
+    for value in 1..100 {
+        assert_eq!(rx.try_recv(), Ok(value));
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn unbounded_last_sender_drop_wakes_parked_receiver() {
+    let (tx, mut rx) = mpsc::unbounded::<()>();
+    let probe = Arc::new(WakeProbe(AtomicUsize::new(0)));
+    let waker = Waker::from(probe.clone());
+    let mut context = Context::from_waker(&waker);
+    let mut recv = Box::pin(rx.recv());
+
+    assert!(recv.as_mut().poll(&mut context).is_pending());
+    drop(tx);
+
+    assert_eq!(probe.0.load(Ordering::Relaxed), 1);
+    assert_eq!(
+        expect_ready(recv.as_mut().poll(&mut context)),
+        Err(RecvError::Disconnected)
+    );
+}
+
 #[tokio::test]
 async fn send_recv_bounded() {
     let (tx, mut rx) = mpsc::bounded(1);