diff --git a/cmd/tusd/cli/composer.go b/cmd/tusd/cli/composer.go
index c7e580c..79015f8 100644
--- a/cmd/tusd/cli/composer.go
+++ b/cmd/tusd/cli/composer.go
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ func CreateComposer() {
 		store := s3store.New(Flags.S3Bucket, s3.New(session.Must(session.NewSession()), s3Config))
 		store.ObjectPrefix = Flags.S3ObjectPrefix
 		store.PreferredPartSize = Flags.S3PartSize
+		store.MaxBufferedParts = Flags.S3MaxBufferedParts
 		store.DisableContentHashes = Flags.S3DisableContentHashes
 		store.SetConcurrentPartUploads(Flags.S3ConcurrentPartUploads)
 		store.UseIn(Composer)
diff --git a/cmd/tusd/cli/flags.go b/cmd/tusd/cli/flags.go
index 1e12daf..4ebc66a 100644
--- a/cmd/tusd/cli/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/tusd/cli/flags.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ var Flags struct {
 	S3ObjectPrefix          string
 	S3Endpoint              string
 	S3PartSize              int64
+	S3MaxBufferedParts      int64
 	S3DisableContentHashes  bool
 	S3DisableSSL            bool
 	S3ConcurrentPartUploads int
@@ -71,6 +72,7 @@ func ParseFlags() {
 	flag.StringVar(&Flags.S3ObjectPrefix, "s3-object-prefix", "", "Prefix for S3 object names")
 	flag.StringVar(&Flags.S3Endpoint, "s3-endpoint", "", "Endpoint to use S3 compatible implementations like minio (requires s3-bucket to be pass)")
 	flag.Int64Var(&Flags.S3PartSize, "s3-part-size", 50*1024*1024, "Size in bytes of the individual upload requests made to the S3 API. Defaults to 50MiB (experimental and may be removed in the future)")
+	flag.Int64Var(&Flags.S3MaxBufferedParts, "s3-max-buffered-parts", 20, "Size in bytes of the individual upload requests made to the S3 API. Defaults to 50MiB (experimental and may be removed in the future)")
 	flag.BoolVar(&Flags.S3DisableContentHashes, "s3-disable-content-hashes", false, "Disable the calculation of MD5 and SHA256 hashes for the content that gets uploaded to S3 for minimized CPU usage (experimental and may be removed in the future)")
 	flag.BoolVar(&Flags.S3DisableSSL, "s3-disable-ssl", false, "Disable SSL and only use HTTP for communication with S3 (experimental and may be removed in the future)")
 	flag.IntVar(&Flags.S3ConcurrentPartUploads, "s3-concurrent-part-uploads", 10, "Number of concurrent part uploads to S3 (experimental and may be removed in the future)")
diff --git a/pkg/s3store/s3store.go b/pkg/s3store/s3store.go
index 8323966..b36e209 100644
--- a/pkg/s3store/s3store.go
+++ b/pkg/s3store/s3store.go
@@ -451,7 +451,18 @@ func (upload *s3Upload) uploadParts(ctx context.Context, offset int64, src io.Re
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
 	var uploadErr error
 
-	for fileChunk := range fileChan {
+	for {
+		// We acquire the semaphore before starting the goroutine to avoid
+		// starting many goroutines, most of which are just waiting for the lock.
+		// We also acquire the semaphore before reading from the channel to reduce
+		// the number of part files are laying around on disk without being used.
+		upload.store.uploadSemaphore.Acquire()
+		fileChunk, more := <-fileChan
+		if !more {
+			upload.store.uploadSemaphore.Release()
+			break
+		}
+
 		partfile := fileChunk.file
 		partsize := fileChunk.size
 
@@ -465,9 +476,6 @@ func (upload *s3Upload) uploadParts(ctx context.Context, offset int64, src io.Re
 			upload.parts = append(upload.parts, part)
 
 			wg.Add(1)
-			// We acquire the semaphore before starting the goroutine to avoid
-			// starting many goroutines, most of which are just waiting for the lock.
-			upload.store.uploadSemaphore.Acquire()
 			go func(file *os.File, part *s3Part) {
 				defer upload.store.uploadSemaphore.Release()
 				defer wg.Done()
@@ -489,9 +497,6 @@ func (upload *s3Upload) uploadParts(ctx context.Context, offset int64, src io.Re
 			}(partfile, part)
 		} else {
 			wg.Add(1)
-			// We acquire the semaphore before starting the goroutine to avoid
-			// starting many goroutines, most of which are just waiting for the lock.
-			upload.store.uploadSemaphore.Acquire()
 			go func(file *os.File) {
 				defer upload.store.uploadSemaphore.Release()
 				defer wg.Done()