diff --git a/service/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/storage/MessagesCache.java b/service/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/storage/MessagesCache.java
index 4cbfe55e8..ed172225f 100644
--- a/service/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/storage/MessagesCache.java
+++ b/service/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/storage/MessagesCache.java
@@ -67,7 +67,10 @@ public class MessagesCache extends RedisClusterPubSubAdapter<String, String> imp
     private final Timer   clearQueueTimer                     = Metrics.timer(name(MessagesCache.class, "clear"));
     private final Counter pubSubMessageCounter                = Metrics.counter(name(MessagesCache.class, "pubSubMessage"));
     private final Counter newMessageNotificationCounter       = Metrics.counter(name(MessagesCache.class, "newMessageNotification"));
-    private final Counter queuePersistedNotificationCounter   = Metrics.counter(name(MessagesCache.class, "queuePersisted"));
+    private final Counter queuePersistedNotificationCounter = Metrics.counter(
+        name(MessagesCache.class, "queuePersisted"));
+  private final Counter staleEphemeralMessagesCounter = Metrics.counter(
+      name(MessagesCache.class, "staleEphemeralMessages"));
 
     static final         String NEXT_SLOT_TO_PERSIST_KEY  = "user_queue_persist_slot";
     private static final byte[] LOCK_VALUE                = "1".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
@@ -178,7 +181,10 @@ public class MessagesCache extends RedisClusterPubSubAdapter<String, String> imp
                                                                                                getPersistInProgressKey(destinationUuid, destinationDevice)),
                                                                                        List.of(String.valueOf(limit).getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)));
 
-            final List<OutgoingMessageEntity> messageEntities;
+            final long earliestAllowableEphemeralTimestamp = System.currentTimeMillis() - MAX_EPHEMERAL_MESSAGE_DELAY.toMillis();
+
+          final List<OutgoingMessageEntity> messageEntities;
+          final List<UUID> staleEphemeralMessageGuids = new ArrayList<>();
 
             if (queueItems.size() % 2 == 0) {
                 messageEntities = new ArrayList<>(queueItems.size() / 2);
@@ -186,6 +192,11 @@ public class MessagesCache extends RedisClusterPubSubAdapter<String, String> imp
                 for (int i = 0; i < queueItems.size() - 1; i += 2) {
                     try {
                         final MessageProtos.Envelope message = MessageProtos.Envelope.parseFrom(queueItems.get(i));
+                        if (message.getEphemeral() && message.getTimestamp() < earliestAllowableEphemeralTimestamp) {
+                          staleEphemeralMessageGuids.add(UUID.fromString(message.getServerGuid()));
+                          continue;
+                        }
+
                         final long id = Long.parseLong(new String(queueItems.get(i + 1), StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
 
                         messageEntities.add(constructEntityFromEnvelope(id, message));
@@ -198,6 +209,13 @@ public class MessagesCache extends RedisClusterPubSubAdapter<String, String> imp
                 messageEntities = Collections.emptyList();
             }
 
+          try {
+            remove(destinationUuid, destinationDevice, staleEphemeralMessageGuids);
+            staleEphemeralMessagesCounter.increment(staleEphemeralMessageGuids.size());
+          } catch (final Throwable e) {
+            logger.warn("Could not remove stale ephemeral messages from cache", e);
+          }
+
             return messageEntities;
         });
     }