diff --git a/lib/absinthe/subscription/proxy.ex b/lib/absinthe/subscription/proxy.ex
index fa70b86831..d9ecf0cac6 100644
--- a/lib/absinthe/subscription/proxy.ex
+++ b/lib/absinthe/subscription/proxy.ex
@@ -6,10 +6,11 @@ defmodule Absinthe.Subscription.Proxy do
   defstruct [
     :pubsub,
     :node,
-    :task_super
+    :task_super,
+    :async
   ]
 
-  def child_spec([_, _, shard] = args) do
+  def child_spec([_task_super, _pubsub, shard, _async] = args) do
     %{
       id: {__MODULE__, shard},
       start: {__MODULE__, :start_link, [args]}
@@ -26,11 +27,11 @@ defmodule Absinthe.Subscription.Proxy do
 
   def topic(shard), do: "__absinthe__:proxy:#{shard}"
 
-  def init([task_super, pubsub, shard]) do
+  def init([task_super, pubsub, shard, async]) do
     node_name = pubsub.node_name()
     :ok = pubsub.subscribe(topic(shard))
     Process.send_after(self(), :gc, @gc_interval)
-    {:ok, %__MODULE__{pubsub: pubsub, node: node_name, task_super: task_super}}
+    {:ok, %__MODULE__{pubsub: pubsub, node: node_name, task_super: task_super, async: async}}
   end
 
   def handle_info(:gc, state) do
@@ -42,13 +43,20 @@ defmodule Absinthe.Subscription.Proxy do
   def handle_info(payload, state) do
     # There's no meaningful form of backpressure to have here, and we can't
     # bottleneck execution inside each proxy process
-
     unless payload.node == state.pubsub.node_name() do
-      Subscription.Local.publish_mutation(
-        state.pubsub,
-        payload.mutation_result,
-        payload.subscribed_fields
-      )
+      if state.async do
+        Task.Supervisor.start_child(state.task_super, Subscription.Local, :publish_mutation, [
+          state.pubsub,
+          payload.mutation_result,
+          payload.subscribed_fields
+        ])
+      else
+        Subscription.Local.publish_mutation(
+          state.pubsub,
+          payload.mutation_result,
+          payload.subscribed_fields
+        )
+      end
     end
 
     {:noreply, state}
diff --git a/lib/absinthe/subscription/proxy_supervisor.ex b/lib/absinthe/subscription/proxy_supervisor.ex
index 62821d2b81..7c8d6b02f0 100644
--- a/lib/absinthe/subscription/proxy_supervisor.ex
+++ b/lib/absinthe/subscription/proxy_supervisor.ex
@@ -3,18 +3,18 @@ defmodule Absinthe.Subscription.ProxySupervisor do
 
   use Supervisor
 
-  def start_link([pubsub, registry, pool_size]) do
-    Supervisor.start_link(__MODULE__, {pubsub, registry, pool_size})
+  def start_link([pubsub, registry, pool_size, async]) do
+    Supervisor.start_link(__MODULE__, {pubsub, registry, pool_size, async})
   end
 
-  def init({pubsub, registry, pool_size}) do
+  def init({pubsub, registry, pool_size, async}) do
     task_super_name = Module.concat(registry, TaskSuper)
     task_super = {Task.Supervisor, name: task_super_name}
 
     # Shard numbers are generated by phash2 which is 0-based:
     proxies =
       for shard <- 0..(pool_size - 1) do
-        {Absinthe.Subscription.Proxy, [task_super_name, pubsub, shard]}
+        {Absinthe.Subscription.Proxy, [task_super_name, pubsub, shard, async]}
       end
 
     Supervisor.init([task_super | proxies], strategy: :one_for_one)
diff --git a/lib/absinthe/subscription/supervisor.ex b/lib/absinthe/subscription/supervisor.ex
index 7b63ae4ab9..c61a001bf5 100644
--- a/lib/absinthe/subscription/supervisor.ex
+++ b/lib/absinthe/subscription/supervisor.ex
@@ -24,10 +24,17 @@ defmodule Absinthe.Subscription.Supervisor do
     pool_size = Keyword.get(opts, :pool_size, System.schedulers_online() * 2)
     compress_registry? = Keyword.get(opts, :compress_registry?, true)
 
-    Supervisor.start_link(__MODULE__, {pubsub, pool_size, compress_registry?})
+    # Absinthe.Subscription.Proxy listens for subscription messages
+    # from other nodes and then runs Subscription.Local.publish_mutation to process
+    # the mutation on the local node. By default it runs in a task superivsor so that
+    # requests are handled concurrently. However, this may not work for some
+    # systems. Setting `async` to false makes it so that the requests are processed one at a time.
+    async? = Keyword.get(opts, :async, true)
+
+    Supervisor.start_link(__MODULE__, {pubsub, pool_size, compress_registry?, async?})
   end
 
-  def init({pubsub, pool_size, compress_registry?}) do
+  def init({pubsub, pool_size, compress_registry?, async?}) do
     registry_name = Absinthe.Subscription.registry_name(pubsub)
     meta = [pool_size: pool_size]
 
@@ -40,7 +47,7 @@ defmodule Absinthe.Subscription.Supervisor do
          meta: meta,
          compressed: compress_registry?
        ]},
-      {Absinthe.Subscription.ProxySupervisor, [pubsub, registry_name, pool_size]}
+      {Absinthe.Subscription.ProxySupervisor, [pubsub, registry_name, pool_size, async?]}
     ]
 
     Supervisor.init(children, strategy: :one_for_one)