diff --git a/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md b/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md
index 9ff18f2bdc..0078045ac7 100644
--- a/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md
@@ -50,6 +50,12 @@ By [@bnjjj](https://github.com/bnjjj) in https://github.com/apollographql/router
 
 ## 🐛 Fixes
 
+### Fix the deduplication logic in deduplication caching [Issue #1984](https://github.com/apollographql/router/issues/1984))
+
+Under load, it is possible to break the router deduplication logic and leave orphaned entries in the waiter map. This fixes the logic to prevent this from occurring.
+
+By [@garypen](https://github.com/garypen) in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/2014
+
 ### Follow directives from Uplink ([Issue #1494](https://github.com/apollographql/router/issues/1494) [Issue #1539](https://github.com/apollographql/router/issues/1539))
 
 The Uplink API returns actionable info in its responses:
diff --git a/apollo-router/src/cache/mod.rs b/apollo-router/src/cache/mod.rs
index 2cf7559b81..e76411cf37 100644
--- a/apollo-router/src/cache/mod.rs
+++ b/apollo-router/src/cache/mod.rs
@@ -55,6 +55,18 @@ where
             None => {
                 let (sender, _receiver) = broadcast::channel(1);
 
+                let k = key.clone();
+                // when _drop_signal is dropped, either by getting out of the block, returning
+                // the error from ready_oneshot or by cancellation, the drop_sentinel future will
+                // return with Err(), then we remove the entry from the wait map
+                let (_drop_signal, drop_sentinel) = oneshot::channel::<()>();
+                let wait_map = self.wait_map.clone();
+                tokio::task::spawn(async move {
+                    let _ = drop_sentinel.await;
+                    let mut locked_wait_map = wait_map.lock().await;
+                    let _ = locked_wait_map.remove(&k);
+                });
+
                 locked_wait_map.insert(key.clone(), sender.clone());
 
                 // we must not hold a lock over the wait map while we are waiting for a value from the
@@ -63,27 +75,13 @@ where
                 drop(locked_wait_map);
 
                 if let Some(value) = self.storage.get(key).await {
-                    let mut locked_wait_map = self.wait_map.lock().await;
-                    let _ = locked_wait_map.remove(key);
-                    let _ = sender.send(value.clone());
+                    self.send(sender, key, value.clone()).await;
 
                     return Entry {
                         inner: EntryInner::Value(value),
                     };
                 }
 
-                let k = key.clone();
-                // when _drop_signal is dropped, either by getting out of the block, returning
-                // the error from ready_oneshot or by cancellation, the drop_sentinel future will
-                // return with Err(), then we remove the entry from the wait map
-                let (_drop_signal, drop_sentinel) = oneshot::channel::<()>();
-                let wait_map = self.wait_map.clone();
-                tokio::task::spawn(async move {
-                    let _ = drop_sentinel.await;
-                    let mut locked_wait_map = wait_map.lock().await;
-                    let _ = locked_wait_map.remove(&k);
-                });
-
                 Entry {
                     inner: EntryInner::First {
                         sender,
@@ -100,9 +98,12 @@ where
         self.storage.insert(key, value.clone()).await;
     }
 
-    pub(crate) async fn remove_wait(&self, key: &K) {
+    async fn send(&self, sender: broadcast::Sender<V>, key: &K, value: V) {
+        // Lock the wait map to prevent more subscribers racing with our send
+        // notification
         let mut locked_wait_map = self.wait_map.lock().await;
         let _ = locked_wait_map.remove(key);
+        let _ = sender.send(value);
     }
 }
 
@@ -157,8 +158,7 @@ where
         } = self.inner
         {
             cache.insert(key.clone(), value.clone()).await;
-            cache.remove_wait(&key).await;
-            let _ = sender.send(value);
+            cache.send(sender, &key, value).await;
         }
     }
 
@@ -169,8 +169,7 @@ where
             sender, cache, key, ..
         } = self.inner
         {
-            let _ = sender.send(value);
-            cache.remove_wait(&key).await;
+            cache.send(sender, &key, value).await;
         }
     }
 }