diff --git a/internal/mempool/mempool.go b/internal/mempool/mempool.go
index d2b84910c..d38fe9e5c 100644
--- a/internal/mempool/mempool.go
+++ b/internal/mempool/mempool.go
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ func (txmp *TxMempool) Unlock() {
 // Size returns the number of valid transactions in the mempool. It is
 // thread-safe.
 func (txmp *TxMempool) Size() int {
-	return txmp.txStore.Size()
+	return txmp.txStore.Size() + txmp.pendingTxs.Size()
 }
 
 // SizeBytes return the total sum in bytes of all the valid transactions in the
@@ -437,6 +437,13 @@ func (txmp *TxMempool) ReapMaxTxs(max int) types.Txs {
 	for _, wtx := range wTxs {
 		txs = append(txs, wtx.tx)
 	}
+	if len(txs) < max {
+		// retrieve more from pending txs
+		pending := txmp.pendingTxs.Peek(max - len(txs))
+		for _, ptx := range pending {
+			txs = append(txs, ptx.tx.tx)
+		}
+	}
 	return txs
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/mempool/tx.go b/internal/mempool/tx.go
index 9570935eb..e5fd7b16f 100644
--- a/internal/mempool/tx.go
+++ b/internal/mempool/tx.go
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ func (wtl *WrappedTxList) Remove(wtx *WrappedTx) {
 }
 
 type PendingTxs struct {
-	mtx *sync.Mutex
+	mtx *sync.RWMutex
 	txs []PendingTxInfo
 }
 
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ type PendingTxInfo struct {
 
 func NewPendingTxs() *PendingTxs {
 	return &PendingTxs{
-		mtx: &sync.Mutex{},
+		mtx: &sync.RWMutex{},
 		txs: []PendingTxInfo{},
 	}
 }
@@ -356,3 +356,19 @@ func (p *PendingTxs) Insert(tx *WrappedTx, resCheckTx *abci.ResponseCheckTxV2, t
 		txInfo:          txInfo,
 	})
 }
+
+func (p *PendingTxs) Peek(max int) []PendingTxInfo {
+	p.mtx.RLock()
+	defer p.mtx.RUnlock()
+	// priority is fifo
+	if max > len(p.txs) {
+		return p.txs
+	}
+	return p.txs[:max]
+}
+
+func (p *PendingTxs) Size() int {
+	p.mtx.RLock()
+	defer p.mtx.RUnlock()
+	return len(p.txs)
+}
diff --git a/internal/rpc/core/mempool.go b/internal/rpc/core/mempool.go
index 917e00b47..12fa2d339 100644
--- a/internal/rpc/core/mempool.go
+++ b/internal/rpc/core/mempool.go
@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@ func (env *Environment) BroadcastTxCommit(ctx context.Context, req *coretypes.Re
 // More: https://docs.tendermint.com/master/rpc/#/Info/unconfirmed_txs
 func (env *Environment) UnconfirmedTxs(ctx context.Context, req *coretypes.RequestUnconfirmedTxs) (*coretypes.ResultUnconfirmedTxs, error) {
 	totalCount := env.Mempool.Size()
+	fmt.Printf("EVMTEST mempool size: %d\n", totalCount)
 	perPage := env.validatePerPage(req.PerPage.IntPtr())
 	page, err := validatePage(req.Page.IntPtr(), perPage, totalCount)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -160,6 +161,7 @@ func (env *Environment) UnconfirmedTxs(ctx context.Context, req *coretypes.Reque
 	txs := env.Mempool.ReapMaxTxs(skipCount + tmmath.MinInt(perPage, totalCount-skipCount))
 	result := txs[skipCount:]
 
+	fmt.Printf("EVMTEST unconfirmed tx result count: %d, skipping %d\n", len(result), skipCount)
 	return &coretypes.ResultUnconfirmedTxs{
 		Count:      len(result),
 		Total:      totalCount,