diff --git a/resilience4j-ratelimiter/src/main/java/io/github/resilience4j/ratelimiter/internal/SemaphoreBasedRateLimiter.java b/resilience4j-ratelimiter/src/main/java/io/github/resilience4j/ratelimiter/internal/SemaphoreBasedRateLimiter.java
index 9a1f402a13..06b410c7ac 100644
--- a/resilience4j-ratelimiter/src/main/java/io/github/resilience4j/ratelimiter/internal/SemaphoreBasedRateLimiter.java
+++ b/resilience4j-ratelimiter/src/main/java/io/github/resilience4j/ratelimiter/internal/SemaphoreBasedRateLimiter.java
@@ -105,7 +105,8 @@ private void scheduleLimitRefresh() {
     }
 
     void refreshLimit() {
-        semaphore.release(this.rateLimiterConfig.getLimitForPeriod());
+        int permissionsToRelease = this.rateLimiterConfig.getLimitForPeriod() - semaphore.availablePermits();
+        semaphore.release(permissionsToRelease);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/resilience4j-ratelimiter/src/test/java/io/github/resilience4j/ratelimiter/internal/SemaphoreBasedRateLimiterImplTest.java b/resilience4j-ratelimiter/src/test/java/io/github/resilience4j/ratelimiter/internal/SemaphoreBasedRateLimiterImplTest.java
index d9f149967a..bb050c95b9 100644
--- a/resilience4j-ratelimiter/src/test/java/io/github/resilience4j/ratelimiter/internal/SemaphoreBasedRateLimiterImplTest.java
+++ b/resilience4j-ratelimiter/src/test/java/io/github/resilience4j/ratelimiter/internal/SemaphoreBasedRateLimiterImplTest.java
@@ -215,6 +215,16 @@ public void getRateLimiterConfig() throws Exception {
         then(limit.getRateLimiterConfig()).isEqualTo(config);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void isUpperLimitedForPermissions() throws Exception {
+        ScheduledExecutorService scheduler = mock(ScheduledExecutorService.class);
+        SemaphoreBasedRateLimiter limit = new SemaphoreBasedRateLimiter("test", config, scheduler);
+        RateLimiter.Metrics metrics = limit.getMetrics();
+        then(metrics.getAvailablePermissions()).isEqualTo(2);
+        limit.refreshLimit();
+        then(metrics.getAvailablePermissions()).isEqualTo(2);
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void getDetailedMetrics() throws Exception {
         ScheduledExecutorService scheduler = mock(ScheduledExecutorService.class);