diff --git a/test/base-queue-handler.test.ts b/test/base-queue-handler.test.ts
index e2c37d2..0a72dd8 100644
--- a/test/base-queue-handler.test.ts
+++ b/test/base-queue-handler.test.ts
@@ -183,9 +183,9 @@ describe('Test baseQueueHandler', function () {
     DemoHandler.prototype.afterDlq = originalAfterDlq;
   });
 
-  it('should add raw buffer to dlq when afterDlq throws to prevent double-encoding', async function () {
+  it('should not duplicate dlq message when afterDlq throws after successful publish', async function () {
     const handler = new DemoHandler(this.name, rabbit, {
-      retries: 2,
+      retries: 1,
       retryDelay: 10
     });
     await handler.created;
@@ -207,19 +207,49 @@ describe('Test baseQueueHandler', function () {
 
     await rabbit.publish(this.name, { test: 'data' }, { correlationId: '3' });
     const publish = sandbox.spy(handler.rabbit, 'publish');
-    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 300));
+    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 100));
 
     afterDlq.calledOnce.should.be.true();
+    publish.calledOnce.should.be.true();
+    dlqMessages.length.should.equal(1);
+    dlqMessages[0].event.should.eql({ test: 'data' });
+  });
+
+  it('should publish raw buffer to dlq when first publish fails', async function () {
+    const handler = new DemoHandler(this.name, rabbit, {
+      retries: 1,
+      retryDelay: 10
+    });
+    await handler.created;
+    handler.handle = sandbox.spy(() => {
+      throw new Error('test error');
+    });
+    const afterDlq = (handler.afterDlq = sandbox.spy());
+
+    const dlqMessages: any[] = [];
+    await rabbit.subscribe(this.name + '_dlq', (msg, ack) => {
+      dlqMessages.push({ event: JSON.parse(msg.content.toString()), content: msg.content });
+      ack(null);
+    });
+
+    await rabbit.publish(this.name, { test: 'data' }, { correlationId: '5' });
+    const originalPublish = handler.rabbit.publish.bind(handler.rabbit);
+    let publishCallCount = 0;
+    const publish = sandbox.stub(handler.rabbit, 'publish').callsFake((...args) => {
+      publishCallCount++;
+      if (publishCallCount === 1) {
+        return Promise.reject(new Error('broker rejected'));
+      }
+      return originalPublish(...args);
+    });
+    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 100));
+
     publish.calledTwice.should.be.true();
-    const fallbackPayload = publish.args[publish.callCount - 1][1];
+    const fallbackPayload = publish.args[1][1];
     Buffer.isBuffer(fallbackPayload).should.be.true();
     fallbackPayload.toString().should.eql('{"test":"data"}');
-
-    // TODO: This flow also produces duplicate messages on the DLQ,
-    // to be investigated and handled on the next PR
-    dlqMessages.length.should.equal(2);
+    dlqMessages.length.should.equal(1);
     dlqMessages[0].event.should.eql({ test: 'data' });
-    dlqMessages[1].event.should.eql({ test: 'data' });
   });
 
   it('should add to dlq after x retries and get error response even if afterDlq throws error', async function () {
diff --git a/ts/base-queue-handler.ts b/ts/base-queue-handler.ts
index 68c4fcd..6458a58 100644
--- a/ts/base-queue-handler.ts
+++ b/ts/base-queue-handler.ts
@@ -183,15 +183,22 @@ abstract class BaseQueueHandler {
 
   async addToDLQ(retries, msg: amqp.Message, ack) {
     const correlationId = this.getCorrelationId(msg);
+    let dlqPublished = false;
+
     try {
       const event = decode(msg);
       this.logger.warn(`[${correlationId}] Adding to dlq: ${this.dlqName} after ${retries} retries`);
       await this.rabbit.publish(this.dlqName, event, msg.properties);
+      dlqPublished = true;
       const response = await this.afterDlq({ msg, event });
       ack(msg.properties.headers.errors.message, response);
     } catch (err) {
-      this.logger.error(`[${correlationId}] Failed to add to dlq: ${this.dlqName}`, err);
-      await this.rabbit.publish(this.dlqName, msg.content, msg.properties);
+      if (dlqPublished) {
+        this.logger.error(`[${correlationId}] afterDlq failed after publishing to dlq: ${this.dlqName}`, err);
+      } else {
+        this.logger.error(`[${correlationId}] Failed to add to dlq: ${this.dlqName}`, err);
+        await this.rabbit.publish(this.dlqName, msg.content, msg.properties);
+      }
       ack(err.message, null);
     }
   }