diff --git a/api_definition.go b/api_definition.go
index aa8ee807c07..ffa8a95d439 100644
--- a/api_definition.go
+++ b/api_definition.go
@@ -832,6 +832,11 @@ func (a *APISpec) Init(authStore, sessionStore, healthStore, orgStore storage.Ha
 	a.OrgSessionManager.Init(orgStore)
 }
 
+func (a *APISpec) StopSessionManagerPool() {
+	a.SessionManager.Stop()
+	a.OrgSessionManager.Stop()
+}
+
 func (a *APISpec) getURLStatus(stat URLStatus) RequestStatus {
 	switch stat {
 	case Ignored:
diff --git a/auth_manager.go b/auth_manager.go
index daca2f32f99..9c3f3d1dd67 100644
--- a/auth_manager.go
+++ b/auth_manager.go
@@ -54,6 +54,8 @@ type DefaultSessionManager struct {
 	poolSize                 int
 	shouldStop               uint32
 	poolWG                   sync.WaitGroup
+	bufferSize               int
+	keyPrefix                string
 }
 
 type SessionUpdate struct {
@@ -103,15 +105,22 @@ func (b *DefaultSessionManager) Init(store storage.Handler) {
 	b.store.Connect()
 
 	if b.asyncWrites {
-		//check pool size in config and set to 50 if unset
+		// check pool size in config and set to 50 if unset
 		b.poolSize = config.Global().SessionUpdatePoolSize
 		if b.poolSize <= 0 {
 			b.poolSize = 50
 		}
+		//check size for channel buffer and set to 1000 if unset
+		b.bufferSize = config.Global().SessionUpdateBufferSize
+		if b.bufferSize <= 0 {
+			b.bufferSize = 1000
+		}
 
 		log.WithField("Auth Manager", b.poolSize).Debug("Session update async pool size")
 
-		b.updateChan = make(chan *SessionUpdate)
+		b.updateChan = make(chan *SessionUpdate, b.bufferSize)
+
+		b.keyPrefix = b.store.GetKeyPrefix()
 
 		//start worker pool
 		atomic.SwapUint32(&b.shouldStop, 0)
@@ -125,32 +134,42 @@ func (b *DefaultSessionManager) Init(store storage.Handler) {
 func (b *DefaultSessionManager) updateWorker() {
 	defer b.poolWG.Done()
 
-	for {
-		//grab update object from channel
-		u, ok := <-b.updateChan
-		//if channel closed return from worker
-		if !ok {
-			return
+	for range b.updateChan {
+		// grab update object from channel
+		u := <-b.updateChan
+
+		v, err := json.Marshal(u.session)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Error("Error marshalling session for async session update")
+			continue
 		}
-		v, _ := json.Marshal(u.session)
 
 		if u.isHashed {
-			u.keyVal = b.store.GetKeyPrefix() + u.keyVal
-			b.store.SetRawKey(u.keyVal, string(v), u.ttl)
+			u.keyVal = b.keyPrefix + u.keyVal
+			err := b.store.SetRawKey(u.keyVal, string(v), u.ttl)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Errorf("Error updating hashed key: %v", err)
+			}
+			continue
 
 		}
 
-		b.store.SetKey(u.keyVal, string(v), u.ttl)
+		err = b.store.SetKey(u.keyVal, string(v), u.ttl)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Errorf("Error updating non-hashed key: %v", err)
+		}
 	}
 }
 
 func (b *DefaultSessionManager) Stop() {
-	//flag to stop adding data to chan
-	atomic.SwapUint32(&b.shouldStop, 1)
-	//close update channel
-	close(b.updateChan)
-	//wait for workers to finish
-	b.poolWG.Wait()
+	if atomic.LoadUint32(&b.shouldStop) == 0 {
+		// flag to stop adding data to chan
+		atomic.SwapUint32(&b.shouldStop, 1)
+		// close update channel
+		close(b.updateChan)
+		// wait for workers to finish
+		b.poolWG.Wait()
+	}
 }
 
 func (b *DefaultSessionManager) Store() storage.Handler {
@@ -176,39 +195,37 @@ func (b *DefaultSessionManager) ResetQuota(keyName string, session *user.Session
 // UpdateSession updates the session state in the storage engine
 func (b *DefaultSessionManager) UpdateSession(keyName string, session *user.SessionState,
 	resetTTLTo int64, hashed bool) error {
-	if !session.HasChanged() {
-		log.Debug("Session has not changed, not updating")
-		return nil
-	}
 
 	// async update and return if needed
 	if b.asyncWrites {
 		if atomic.LoadUint32(&b.shouldStop) > 0 {
 			return nil
 		}
-		b.renewSessionState(keyName, session)
 
-		sessionMeta := &SessionUpdate{
+		sessionUpdate := &SessionUpdate{
 			isHashed: hashed,
 			keyVal:   keyName,
 			session:  session,
 			ttl:      resetTTLTo,
 		}
 
-		//send sessionupdate object through channel and do hard work in the pool
-		b.updateChan <- sessionMeta
+		// send sessionupdate object through channel to pool
+		b.updateChan <- sessionUpdate
 
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	v, _ := json.Marshal(session)
+	v, err := json.Marshal(session)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Error("Error marshalling session for sync update")
+		return err
+	}
 
 	if hashed {
 		keyName = b.store.GetKeyPrefix() + keyName
 	}
 
 	// sync update
-	var err error
 	if hashed {
 		err = b.store.SetRawKey(keyName, string(v), resetTTLTo)
 	} else {
diff --git a/cli/lint/schema.go b/cli/lint/schema.go
index c88c72c27b3..a022035a5fc 100644
--- a/cli/lint/schema.go
+++ b/cli/lint/schema.go
@@ -494,6 +494,9 @@ const confSchema = `{
 	"session_update_pool_size":{
 		"type": "integer"
 	},
+	"session_update_buffer_size":{
+		"type": "integer"
+	},
 	"pid_file_location": {
 		"type": "string"
 	},
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index d394626290b..e4552a4661a 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -213,6 +213,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	HealthCheck                       HealthCheckConfig                     `json:"health_check"`
 	UseAsyncSessionWrite              bool                                  `json:"optimisations_use_async_session_write"`
 	SessionUpdatePoolSize             int                                   `json:"session_update_pool_size"`
+	SessionUpdateBufferSize           int                                   `json:"session_update_buffer_size"`
 	AllowMasterKeys                   bool                                  `json:"allow_master_keys"`
 	HashKeys                          bool                                  `json:"hash_keys"`
 	HashKeyFunction                   string                                `json:"hash_key_function"`
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 6ad66f8524c..694046137f0 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -999,11 +999,13 @@ func main() {
 		analytics.Stop()
 	}
 
-	//if using async session writes stop workers
+	// if using async session writes stop workers
 	if config.Global().UseAsyncSessionWrite {
 		DefaultOrgStore.Stop()
-		DefaultQuotaStore.Stop()
-		FallbackKeySesionManager.Stop()
+		for i := range apiSpecs {
+			apiSpecs[i].StopSessionManagerPool()
+		}
+
 	}
 
 	// write pprof profiles