diff --git a/discovery/syncer.go b/discovery/syncer.go
index 4041b1fdd..dd353fde1 100644
--- a/discovery/syncer.go
+++ b/discovery/syncer.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package discovery
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
 	"sync"
@@ -52,6 +53,17 @@ const (
 	chansSynced
 )
 
+const (
+	// DefaultMaxUndelayedQueryReplies specifies how many gossip queries we
+	// will respond to immediately before starting to delay responses.
+	DefaultMaxUndelayedQueryReplies = 5
+
+	// DefaultDelayedQueryReplyInterval is the length of time we will wait
+	// before responding to gossip queries after replying to
+	// maxUndelayedQueryReplies queries.
+	DefaultDelayedQueryReplyInterval = 30 * time.Second
+)
+
 // String returns a human readable string describing the target syncerState.
 func (s syncerState) String() string {
 	switch s {
@@ -82,6 +94,9 @@ var (
 	encodingTypeToChunkSize = map[lnwire.ShortChanIDEncoding]int32{
 		lnwire.EncodingSortedPlain: 8000,
 	}
+
+	// ErrGossipSyncerExiting signals that the syncer has been killed.
+	ErrGossipSyncerExiting = errors.New("gossip syncer exiting")
 )
 
 const (
@@ -167,6 +182,15 @@ type gossipSyncerCfg struct {
 	// targeted messages to the peer we've been assigned to sync the graph
 	// state from.
 	sendToPeer func(...lnwire.Message) error
+
+	// maxUndelayedQueryReplies specifies how many gossip queries we will
+	// respond to immediately before starting to delay responses.
+	maxUndelayedQueryReplies int
+
+	// delayedQueryReplyInterval is the length of time we will wait before
+	// responding to gossip queries after replying to
+	// maxUndelayedQueryReplies queries.
+	delayedQueryReplyInterval time.Duration
 }
 
 // gossipSyncer is a struct that handles synchronizing the channel graph state
@@ -214,6 +238,11 @@ type gossipSyncer struct {
 
 	cfg gossipSyncerCfg
 
+	// replyCount records how many query replies we've responded to. This is
+	// used to determine when to start delaying responses to peers to
+	// prevent DOS vulnerabilities.
+	replyCount int
+
 	sync.Mutex
 
 	quit chan struct{}
@@ -223,6 +252,18 @@ type gossipSyncer struct {
 // newGossiperSyncer returns a new instance of the gossipSyncer populated using
 // the passed config.
 func newGossiperSyncer(cfg gossipSyncerCfg) *gossipSyncer {
+	// If no parameter was specified for max undelayed query replies, set it
+	// to the default of 5 queries.
+	if cfg.maxUndelayedQueryReplies <= 0 {
+		cfg.maxUndelayedQueryReplies = DefaultMaxUndelayedQueryReplies
+	}
+
+	// If no parameter was specified for delayed query reply interval, set
+	// to the default of 30 seconds.
+	if cfg.delayedQueryReplyInterval <= 0 {
+		cfg.delayedQueryReplyInterval = DefaultDelayedQueryReplyInterval
+	}
+
 	return &gossipSyncer{
 		cfg:        cfg,
 		gossipMsgs: make(chan lnwire.Message, 100),
@@ -332,7 +373,7 @@ func (g *gossipSyncer) channelGraphSyncer() {
 				// Otherwise, it's the remote peer performing a
 				// query, which we'll attempt to reply to.
 				err := g.replyPeerQueries(msg)
-				if err != nil {
+				if err != nil && err != ErrGossipSyncerExiting {
 					log.Errorf("unable to reply to peer "+
 						"query: %v", err)
 				}
@@ -386,7 +427,7 @@ func (g *gossipSyncer) channelGraphSyncer() {
 				// Otherwise, it's the remote peer performing a
 				// query, which we'll attempt to deploy to.
 				err := g.replyPeerQueries(msg)
-				if err != nil {
+				if err != nil && err != ErrGossipSyncerExiting {
 					log.Errorf("unable to reply to peer "+
 						"query: %v", err)
 				}
@@ -430,7 +471,7 @@ func (g *gossipSyncer) channelGraphSyncer() {
 			select {
 			case msg := <-g.gossipMsgs:
 				err := g.replyPeerQueries(msg)
-				if err != nil {
+				if err != nil && err != ErrGossipSyncerExiting {
 					log.Errorf("unable to reply to peer "+
 						"query: %v", err)
 				}
@@ -588,6 +629,24 @@ func (g *gossipSyncer) genChanRangeQuery() (*lnwire.QueryChannelRange, error) {
 // replyPeerQueries is called in response to any query by the remote peer.
 // We'll examine our state and send back our best response.
 func (g *gossipSyncer) replyPeerQueries(msg lnwire.Message) error {
+	// If we've already replied a handful of times, we will start to delay
+	// responses back to the remote peer. This can help prevent DOS attacks
+	// where the remote peer spams us endlessly.
+	switch {
+	case g.replyCount == g.cfg.maxUndelayedQueryReplies:
+		log.Infof("gossipSyncer(%x): entering delayed gossip replies",
+			g.peerPub[:])
+		fallthrough
+
+	case g.replyCount > g.cfg.maxUndelayedQueryReplies:
+		select {
+		case <-time.After(g.cfg.delayedQueryReplyInterval):
+		case <-g.quit:
+			return ErrGossipSyncerExiting
+		}
+	}
+	g.replyCount++
+
 	switch msg := msg.(type) {
 
 	// In this state, we'll also handle any incoming channel range queries