diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/com/yahoo/pulsar/broker/service/Consumer.java b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/com/yahoo/pulsar/broker/service/Consumer.java
index 9b1026639784c36bf4cfb538566348bbec34e5f7..2c42ad1c72f5f2b0226e1ee71067a063f07f64ff 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/com/yahoo/pulsar/broker/service/Consumer.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/com/yahoo/pulsar/broker/service/Consumer.java
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 import org.apache.bookkeeper.mledger.Entry;
 import org.apache.bookkeeper.mledger.impl.PositionImpl;
 import org.apache.bookkeeper.mledger.util.Rate;
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.tuple.MutablePair;
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.tuple.Pair;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
@@ -115,19 +117,22 @@ public class Consumer {
      *
      * @return a promise that can be use to track when all the data has been written into the socket
      */
-    public ChannelPromise sendMessages(final List<Entry> entries) {
+    public Pair<ChannelPromise, Integer> sendMessages(final List<Entry> entries) {
         final ChannelHandlerContext ctx = cnx.ctx();
+        final MutablePair<ChannelPromise, Integer> sentMessages = new MutablePair<ChannelPromise, Integer>();
         final ChannelPromise writePromise = ctx.newPromise();
+        sentMessages.setLeft(writePromise);
         if (entries.isEmpty()) {
             if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
                 log.debug("[{}] List of messages is empty, triggering write future immediately for consumerId {}",
                         subscription, consumerId);
             }
             writePromise.setSuccess();
-            return writePromise;
+            sentMessages.setRight(0);
+            return sentMessages;
         }
 
-        updatePermitsAndPendingAcks(entries);
+        sentMessages.setRight(updatePermitsAndPendingAcks(entries));
 
         ctx.channel().eventLoop().execute(() -> {
             for (int i = 0; i < entries.size(); i++) {
@@ -165,7 +170,7 @@ public class Consumer {
             ctx.flush();
         });
 
-        return writePromise;
+        return sentMessages;
     }
 
     private void incrementUnackedMessages(int ackedMessages) {
@@ -192,7 +197,7 @@ public class Consumer {
         return -1;
     }
 
-    void updatePermitsAndPendingAcks(final List<Entry> entries) {
+    int updatePermitsAndPendingAcks(final List<Entry> entries) {
         int permitsToReduce = 0;
         Iterator<Entry> iter = entries.iterator();
         while (iter.hasNext()) {
@@ -221,6 +226,7 @@ public class Consumer {
                 log.debug("[{}] [{}] message permits dropped below 0 - {}", subscription, consumerId, permits);
             }
         }
+        return permitsToReduce;
     }
 
     public boolean isWritable() {
diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/com/yahoo/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentDispatcherMultipleConsumers.java b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/com/yahoo/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentDispatcherMultipleConsumers.java
index 4a49796be7bcbeb80da708008ce9c3374d149475..57383ed9b30636f6539db4c3438f443062f52333 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/com/yahoo/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentDispatcherMultipleConsumers.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/com/yahoo/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentDispatcherMultipleConsumers.java
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ public class PersistentDispatcherMultipleConsumers implements Dispatcher, ReadEn
     }
 
     private void readMoreEntries() {
-        if (totalAvailablePermits > 0 && isUnblockedConsumerAvailable()) {
+        if (totalAvailablePermits > 0 && isAtleastOneConsumerAvailable()) {
             int messagesToRead = Math.min(totalAvailablePermits, readBatchSize);
 
             if (!messagesToReplay.isEmpty()) {
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ public class PersistentDispatcherMultipleConsumers implements Dispatcher, ReadEn
             log.debug("[{}] Distributing {} messages to {} consumers", name, entries.size(), consumerList.size());
         }
 
-        while (entriesToDispatch > 0 && totalAvailablePermits > 0 && isUnblockedConsumerAvailable()) {
+        while (entriesToDispatch > 0 && totalAvailablePermits > 0 && isAtleastOneConsumerAvailable()) {
             Consumer c = getNextConsumer();
             if (c == null) {
                 // Do nothing, cursor will be rewind at reconnection
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ public class PersistentDispatcherMultipleConsumers implements Dispatcher, ReadEn
             int messagesForC = Math.min(Math.min(entriesToDispatch, c.getAvailablePermits()), MaxRoundRobinBatchSize);
 
             if (messagesForC > 0) {
-                c.sendMessages(entries.subList(start, start + messagesForC));
+                int msgSent = c.sendMessages(entries.subList(start, start + messagesForC)).getRight();
 
                 if (readType == ReadType.Replay) {
                     entries.subList(start, start + messagesForC).forEach(entry -> {
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ public class PersistentDispatcherMultipleConsumers implements Dispatcher, ReadEn
                 }
                 start += messagesForC;
                 entriesToDispatch -= messagesForC;
-                totalAvailablePermits -= messagesForC;
+                totalAvailablePermits -= msgSent;
             }
         }
 
@@ -357,7 +357,7 @@ public class PersistentDispatcherMultipleConsumers implements Dispatcher, ReadEn
         // find next available unblocked consumer
         int unblockedConsumerIndex = consumerIndex;
         do {
-            if (!consumerList.get(unblockedConsumerIndex).isBlocked()) {
+            if (isConsumerAvailable(consumerList.get(unblockedConsumerIndex))) {
                 consumerIndex = unblockedConsumerIndex;
                 return consumerList.get(consumerIndex++);
             }
@@ -371,23 +371,26 @@ public class PersistentDispatcherMultipleConsumers implements Dispatcher, ReadEn
     }
     
     /**
-     * returns true only if {@link consumerList} has atleast one unblocked consumer 
+     * returns true only if {@link consumerList} has atleast one unblocked consumer and have available permits
      * 
      * @return
      */
-    private boolean isUnblockedConsumerAvailable() {
+    private boolean isAtleastOneConsumerAvailable() {
         if (consumerList.isEmpty() || closeFuture != null) {
             // abort read if no consumers are connected or if disconnect is initiated
             return false;
         }
-        Iterator<Consumer> consumerIterator = consumerList.iterator();
-        while (consumerIterator.hasNext()) {
-            if (!consumerIterator.next().isBlocked()) {
+        for(Consumer consumer : consumerList) {
+            if (isConsumerAvailable(consumer)) {
                 return true;
             }
         }
         return false;
     }
+    
+    private boolean isConsumerAvailable(Consumer consumer) {
+        return consumer != null && !consumer.isBlocked() && consumer.getAvailablePermits() > 0;
+    }
 
     @Override
     public synchronized void redeliverUnacknowledgedMessages(Consumer consumer) {
diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/com/yahoo/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentDispatcherSingleActiveConsumer.java b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/com/yahoo/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentDispatcherSingleActiveConsumer.java
index 7b05a6015dda6cdcc749eaf50e176e74677336eb..47b9acb75df84647f498870ddd1865978d22672d 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/com/yahoo/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentDispatcherSingleActiveConsumer.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/com/yahoo/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/PersistentDispatcherSingleActiveConsumer.java
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ public final class PersistentDispatcherSingleActiveConsumer implements Dispatche
                 readMoreEntries(currentConsumer);
             }
         } else {
-            currentConsumer.sendMessages(entries).addListener(future -> {
+            currentConsumer.sendMessages(entries).getLeft().addListener(future -> {
                 if (future.isSuccess()) {
                     // Schedule a new read batch operation only after the previous batch has been written to the socket
                     synchronized (PersistentDispatcherSingleActiveConsumer.this) {