diff --git a/src/main/java/com/hivemq/configuration/service/InternalConfigurations.java b/src/main/java/com/hivemq/configuration/service/InternalConfigurations.java
index ac078b20a..5ae88734d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/hivemq/configuration/service/InternalConfigurations.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/hivemq/configuration/service/InternalConfigurations.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 
+import static com.hivemq.configuration.entity.mqtt.MqttConfigurationDefaults.MAX_EXPIRY_INTERVAL_DEFAULT;
 import static com.hivemq.persistence.local.xodus.EnvironmentUtil.GCType;
 
 /**
@@ -469,4 +470,5 @@ public class InternalConfigurations {
     public static boolean EXPIRE_INFLIGHT_MESSAGES_ENABLED = false;
     public static boolean EXPIRE_INFLIGHT_PUBRELS_ENABLED = false;
 
+    public static long MAXIMUM_INFLIGHT_PUBREL_EXPIRY = MAX_EXPIRY_INTERVAL_DEFAULT;
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/hivemq/mqtt/message/pubrel/PUBREL.java b/src/main/java/com/hivemq/mqtt/message/pubrel/PUBREL.java
index 6e5fee215..aae749294 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/hivemq/mqtt/message/pubrel/PUBREL.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/hivemq/mqtt/message/pubrel/PUBREL.java
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@
 import com.hivemq.mqtt.message.reason.Mqtt5PubRelReasonCode;
 import com.hivemq.util.ObjectMemoryEstimation;
 
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
 /**
  * @since 1.4
  */
@@ -98,25 +100,23 @@ public void setPublishTimestamp(final @Nullable Long publishTimestamp) {
         this.publishTimestamp = publishTimestamp;
     }
 
-    public long getRemainingExpiry() {
-        if (isExpiryDisabled()) {
-            return PUBLISH.MESSAGE_EXPIRY_INTERVAL_NOT_SET;
-        }
-        final long waitingSeconds = (System.currentTimeMillis() - publishTimestamp) / 1000;
-        return Math.max(0, messageExpiryInterval - waitingSeconds);
-    }
-
     public boolean isExpiryDisabled() {
         return (messageExpiryInterval == MqttConfigurationDefaults.TTL_DISABLED) ||
                 (messageExpiryInterval == PUBLISH.MESSAGE_EXPIRY_INTERVAL_NOT_SET);
     }
 
-    public boolean hasExpired() {
+    public boolean hasExpired(final long maximalPubRelExpiry) {
         if ((publishTimestamp == null) || (messageExpiryInterval == null)) {
             return false;
         }
-
-        return getRemainingExpiry() == 0;
+        if (messageExpiryInterval == MqttConfigurationDefaults.TTL_DISABLED ||
+                messageExpiryInterval == PUBLISH.MESSAGE_EXPIRY_INTERVAL_NOT_SET) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        final long waitingSeconds = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toSeconds(System.currentTimeMillis() - publishTimestamp);
+        final long actualMessageExpiry = Math.min(messageExpiryInterval, maximalPubRelExpiry);
+        final long remainingTime = actualMessageExpiry - waitingSeconds;
+        return remainingTime < 1;
     }
 
     public static @NotNull PUBREL from(final @NotNull PubrelPacketImpl packet) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/hivemq/persistence/clientqueue/ClientQueueXodusLocalPersistence.java b/src/main/java/com/hivemq/persistence/clientqueue/ClientQueueXodusLocalPersistence.java
index 346f972bf..e6f533fc7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/hivemq/persistence/clientqueue/ClientQueueXodusLocalPersistence.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/hivemq/persistence/clientqueue/ClientQueueXodusLocalPersistence.java
@@ -795,6 +795,10 @@ private boolean setPayloadIfExistingElseDrop(
                     return packetId != ClientQueuePersistenceSerializer.NO_PACKET_ID;
                 });
                 if (!packetIdFound[0]) {
+                    if (InternalConfigurations.EXPIRE_INFLIGHT_PUBRELS_ENABLED) {
+                        pubrel.setMessageExpiryInterval(InternalConfigurations.MAXIMUM_INFLIGHT_PUBREL_EXPIRY);
+                        pubrel.setPublishTimestamp(System.currentTimeMillis());
+                    }
                     getOrPutQueueSize(key, bucketIndex).incrementAndGet();
                     final ByteIterable serializedPubRel = serializer.serializePubRel(pubrel, false);
                     bucket.getStore().put(txn, serializer.serializeUnknownPubRelKey(key), serializedPubRel);
@@ -1041,10 +1045,7 @@ private void cleanExpiredMessages(final @NotNull Key key, final int bucketIndex)
                         if (!InternalConfigurations.EXPIRE_INFLIGHT_PUBRELS_ENABLED) {
                             return true;
                         }
-                        if (pubrel.getMessageExpiryInterval() == null || pubrel.getPublishTimestamp() == null) {
-                            return true;
-                        }
-                        if (!pubrel.hasExpired()) {
+                        if (!pubrel.hasExpired(InternalConfigurations.MAXIMUM_INFLIGHT_PUBREL_EXPIRY)) {
                             return true;
                         }
                         getOrPutQueueSize(key, bucketIndex).decrementAndGet();
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/hivemq/persistence/local/memory/ClientQueueMemoryLocalPersistence.java b/src/main/java/com/hivemq/persistence/local/memory/ClientQueueMemoryLocalPersistence.java
index 213b47fef..bad09235e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/hivemq/persistence/local/memory/ClientQueueMemoryLocalPersistence.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/hivemq/persistence/local/memory/ClientQueueMemoryLocalPersistence.java
@@ -445,6 +445,10 @@ private void addQos0Publish(
         if (packetIdFound) {
             messages.qos1Or2Messages.set(messageIndexInQueue, pubrelWithRetained);
         } else {
+            if (InternalConfigurations.EXPIRE_INFLIGHT_PUBRELS_ENABLED) {
+                pubrelWithRetained.setMessageExpiryInterval(InternalConfigurations.MAXIMUM_INFLIGHT_PUBREL_EXPIRY);
+                pubrelWithRetained.setPublishTimestamp(System.currentTimeMillis());
+            }
             // Ensure unknown PUBRELs are always first in queue
             messages.qos1Or2Messages.addFirst(pubrelWithRetained);
         }
@@ -755,10 +759,7 @@ private void cleanExpiredMessages(final @NotNull Messages messages) {
                 if (!InternalConfigurations.EXPIRE_INFLIGHT_PUBRELS_ENABLED) {
                     continue;
                 }
-                if (pubrel.getMessageExpiryInterval() == null || pubrel.getPublishTimestamp() == null) {
-                    continue;
-                }
-                if (!pubrel.hasExpired()) {
+                if (!pubrel.hasExpired(InternalConfigurations.MAXIMUM_INFLIGHT_PUBREL_EXPIRY)) {
                     continue;
                 }
                 if (pubrel.retained) {