diff --git a/lib/ldclient-rb/events.rb b/lib/ldclient-rb/events.rb
index 69563572..f57287a4 100644
--- a/lib/ldclient-rb/events.rb
+++ b/lib/ldclient-rb/events.rb
@@ -4,6 +4,23 @@
 require "thread"
 require "time"
 
+#
+# Analytics event processing in the SDK involves several components. The purpose of this design is to
+# minimize overhead on the application threads that are generating analytics events.
+#
+# EventProcessor receives an analytics event from the SDK client, on an application thread. It places
+# the event in a bounded queue, the "inbox", and immediately returns.
+#
+# On a separate worker thread, EventDispatcher consumes events from the inbox. These are considered
+# "input events" because they may or may not actually be sent to LaunchDarkly; most flag evaluation
+# events are not sent, but are counted and the counters become part of a single summary event.
+# EventDispatcher updates those counters, creates "index" events for any users that have not been seen
+# recently, and places any events that will be sent to LaunchDarkly into the "outbox" queue.
+#
+# When it is time to flush events to LaunchDarkly, the contents of the outbox are handed off to
+# another worker thread which sends the HTTP request.
+#
+
 module LaunchDarkly
   MAX_FLUSH_WORKERS = 5
   CURRENT_SCHEMA_VERSION = 3
@@ -68,28 +85,30 @@ class StopMessage < SynchronousMessage
   # @private
   class EventProcessor
     def initialize(sdk_key, config, client = nil)
-      @queue = Queue.new
+      @logger = config.logger
+      @inbox = SizedQueue.new(config.capacity)
       @flush_task = Concurrent::TimerTask.new(execution_interval: config.flush_interval) do
-        @queue << FlushMessage.new
+        post_to_inbox(FlushMessage.new)
       end
       @flush_task.execute
       @users_flush_task = Concurrent::TimerTask.new(execution_interval: config.user_keys_flush_interval) do
-        @queue << FlushUsersMessage.new
+        post_to_inbox(FlushUsersMessage.new)
       end
       @users_flush_task.execute
       @stopped = Concurrent::AtomicBoolean.new(false)
-      
-      EventDispatcher.new(@queue, sdk_key, config, client)
+      @inbox_full = Concurrent::AtomicBoolean.new(false)
+
+      EventDispatcher.new(@inbox, sdk_key, config, client)
     end
 
     def add_event(event)
       event[:creationDate] = (Time.now.to_f * 1000).to_i
-      @queue << EventMessage.new(event)
+      post_to_inbox(EventMessage.new(event))
     end
 
     def flush
       # flush is done asynchronously
-      @queue << FlushMessage.new
+      post_to_inbox(FlushMessage.new)
     end
 
     def stop
@@ -97,9 +116,11 @@ def stop
       if @stopped.make_true
         @flush_task.shutdown
         @users_flush_task.shutdown
-        @queue << FlushMessage.new
+        # Note that here we are not calling post_to_inbox, because we *do* want to wait if the inbox
+        # is full; an orderly shutdown can't happen unless these messages are received.
+        @inbox << FlushMessage.new
         stop_msg = StopMessage.new
-        @queue << stop_msg
+        @inbox << stop_msg
         stop_msg.wait_for_completion
       end
     end
@@ -107,14 +128,30 @@ def stop
     # exposed only for testing
     def wait_until_inactive
       sync_msg = TestSyncMessage.new
-      @queue << sync_msg
+      @inbox << sync_msg
       sync_msg.wait_for_completion
     end
+
+    private
+
+    def post_to_inbox(message)
+      begin
+        @inbox.push(message, non_block=true)
+      rescue ThreadError
+        # If the inbox is full, it means the EventDispatcher thread is seriously backed up with not-yet-processed
+        # events. This is unlikely, but if it happens, it means the application is probably doing a ton of flag
+        # evaluations across many threads-- so if we wait for a space in the inbox, we risk a very serious slowdown
+        # of the app. To avoid that, we'll just drop the event. The log warning about this will only be shown once.
+        if @inbox_full.make_true
+          @logger.warn { "[LDClient] Events are being produced faster than they can be processed; some events will be dropped" }
+        end
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   # @private
   class EventDispatcher
-    def initialize(queue, sdk_key, config, client)
+    def initialize(inbox, sdk_key, config, client)
       @sdk_key = sdk_key
       @config = config
 
@@ -129,10 +166,10 @@ def initialize(queue, sdk_key, config, client)
       @disabled = Concurrent::AtomicBoolean.new(false)
       @last_known_past_time = Concurrent::AtomicReference.new(0)
 
-      buffer = EventBuffer.new(config.capacity, config.logger)
+      outbox = EventBuffer.new(config.capacity, config.logger)
       flush_workers = NonBlockingThreadPool.new(MAX_FLUSH_WORKERS)
 
-      Thread.new { main_loop(queue, buffer, flush_workers) }
+      Thread.new { main_loop(inbox, outbox, flush_workers) }
     end
 
     private
@@ -141,16 +178,16 @@ def now_millis()
       (Time.now.to_f * 1000).to_i
     end
 
-    def main_loop(queue, buffer, flush_workers)
+    def main_loop(inbox, outbox, flush_workers)
       running = true
       while running do
         begin
-          message = queue.pop
+          message = inbox.pop
           case message
           when EventMessage
-            dispatch_event(message.event, buffer)
+            dispatch_event(message.event, outbox)
           when FlushMessage
-            trigger_flush(buffer, flush_workers)
+            trigger_flush(outbox, flush_workers)
           when FlushUsersMessage
             @user_keys.clear
           when TestSyncMessage
@@ -181,11 +218,11 @@ def synchronize_for_testing(flush_workers)
       flush_workers.wait_all
     end
 
-    def dispatch_event(event, buffer)
+    def dispatch_event(event, outbox)
       return if @disabled.value
 
       # Always record the event in the summary.
-      buffer.add_to_summary(event)
+      outbox.add_to_summary(event)
 
       # Decide whether to add the event to the payload. Feature events may be added twice, once for
       # the event (if tracked) and once for debugging.
@@ -205,7 +242,7 @@ def dispatch_event(event, buffer)
       # an identify event for that user.
       if !(will_add_full_event && @config.inline_users_in_events)
         if event.has_key?(:user) && !notice_user(event[:user]) && event[:kind] != "identify"
-          buffer.add_event({
+          outbox.add_event({
             kind: "index",
             creationDate: event[:creationDate],
             user: event[:user]
@@ -213,8 +250,8 @@ def dispatch_event(event, buffer)
         end
       end
 
-      buffer.add_event(event) if will_add_full_event
-      buffer.add_event(debug_event) if !debug_event.nil?
+      outbox.add_event(event) if will_add_full_event
+      outbox.add_event(debug_event) if !debug_event.nil?
     end
 
     # Add to the set of users we've noticed, and return true if the user was already known to us.
@@ -236,12 +273,12 @@ def should_debug_event(event)
       end
     end
 
-    def trigger_flush(buffer, flush_workers)
+    def trigger_flush(outbox, flush_workers)
       if @disabled.value
         return
       end
 
-      payload = buffer.get_payload  
+      payload = outbox.get_payload  
       if !payload.events.empty? || !payload.summary.counters.empty?
         # If all available worker threads are busy, success will be false and no job will be queued.
         success = flush_workers.post do
@@ -252,7 +289,7 @@ def trigger_flush(buffer, flush_workers)
             Util.log_exception(@config.logger, "Unexpected error in event processor", e)
           end
         end
-        buffer.clear if success # Reset our internal state, these events now belong to the flush worker
+        outbox.clear if success # Reset our internal state, these events now belong to the flush worker
       end
     end