diff --git a/db/db_impl.cc b/db/db_impl.cc
index 138cf024b..852e16deb 100644
--- a/db/db_impl.cc
+++ b/db/db_impl.cc
@@ -5134,17 +5134,30 @@ Status DBImpl::DelayWrite(uint64_t num_bytes,
   bool delayed = false;
   {
     StopWatch sw(env_, stats_, WRITE_STALL, &time_delayed);
-    auto delay = write_controller_.GetDelay(env_, num_bytes);
+    uint64_t delay = write_controller_.GetDelay(env_, num_bytes);
     if (delay > 0) {
       if (write_options.no_slowdown) {
         return Status::Incomplete();
       }
-      mutex_.Unlock();
-      delayed = true;
       TEST_SYNC_POINT("DBImpl::DelayWrite:Sleep");
-      // hopefully we don't have to sleep more than 2 billion microseconds
-      env_->SleepForMicroseconds(static_cast<int>(delay));
+
+      mutex_.Unlock();
+      // We will delay the write until we have slept for delay ms or
+      // we don't need a delay anymore
+      const uint64_t kDelayInterval = 1000;
+      uint64_t stall_end = sw.start_time() + delay;
+      while (write_controller_.NeedsDelay()) {
+        if (env_->NowMicros() >= stall_end) {
+          // We already delayed this write `delay` microseconds
+          break;
+        }
+
+        delayed = true;
+        // Sleep for 0.001 seconds
+        env_->SleepForMicroseconds(kDelayInterval);
+      }
       mutex_.Lock();
+
     }
 
     while (bg_error_.ok() && write_controller_.IsStopped()) {
diff --git a/db/write_controller.cc b/db/write_controller.cc
index d6c379fd6..2b5d8bf8c 100644
--- a/db/write_controller.cc
+++ b/db/write_controller.cc
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ uint64_t WriteController::GetDelay(Env* env, uint64_t num_bytes) {
   if (total_stopped_ > 0) {
     return 0;
   }
-  if (total_delayed_ == 0) {
+  if (total_delayed_.load() == 0) {
     return 0;
   }
 
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ StopWriteToken::~StopWriteToken() {
 
 DelayWriteToken::~DelayWriteToken() {
   controller_->total_delayed_--;
-  assert(controller_->total_delayed_ >= 0);
+  assert(controller_->total_delayed_.load() >= 0);
 }
 
 CompactionPressureToken::~CompactionPressureToken() {
diff --git a/db/write_controller.h b/db/write_controller.h
index b84092ca6..b3f6ba8c7 100644
--- a/db/write_controller.h
+++ b/db/write_controller.h
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 #include <stdint.h>
 
+#include <atomic>
 #include <memory>
 
 namespace rocksdb {
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ class WriteController {
 
   // these three metods are querying the state of the WriteController
   bool IsStopped() const;
-  bool NeedsDelay() const { return total_delayed_ > 0; }
+  bool NeedsDelay() const { return total_delayed_.load() > 0; }
   bool NeedSpeedupCompaction() const {
     return IsStopped() || NeedsDelay() || total_compaction_pressure_ > 0;
   }
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ class WriteController {
   friend class CompactionPressureToken;
 
   int total_stopped_;
-  int total_delayed_;
+  std::atomic<int> total_delayed_;
   int total_compaction_pressure_;
   uint64_t bytes_left_;
   uint64_t last_refill_time_;
diff --git a/util/stop_watch.h b/util/stop_watch.h
index bf2f6ebd0..de1772809 100644
--- a/util/stop_watch.h
+++ b/util/stop_watch.h
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ class StopWatch {
     }
   }
 
+  uint64_t start_time() const { return start_time_; }
+
  private:
   Env* const env_;
   Statistics* statistics_;