diff --git a/pubsub/batcher/batcher.go b/pubsub/batcher/batcher.go
index de53b68f52..57e53878cf 100644
--- a/pubsub/batcher/batcher.go
+++ b/pubsub/batcher/batcher.go
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ func (b *Batcher) AddNoWait(item interface{}) <-chan error {
 			b.handleBatch(batch)
 		}
 
-		if batch == nil && len(b.pending) > 0 {
+		if batch == nil && len(b.pending) > 0 && b.opts.BatchTimeout > 0 {
 			// If the batch size timeout is zero, this is one of the first items to
 			// be added to the batch under the minimum batch size.  Record when this
 			// happens so that .nextBatch() can grab the batch on timeout.
@@ -225,6 +225,7 @@ func (b *Batcher) AddNoWait(item interface{}) <-chan error {
 			if atomic.CompareAndSwapInt32(&b.batchTimeoutRunning, 0, 1) {
 				go func() {
 					<-time.After(b.opts.BatchTimeout)
+					b.batchTimeoutRunning = 0
 					batch = b.nextBatch()
 					if batch != nil {
 						b.handleBatch(batch)
@@ -256,7 +257,7 @@ func (b *Batcher) handleBatch(batch []waiter) {
 // b.mu must be held.
 func (b *Batcher) nextBatch() []waiter {
 	// if there's a min batch size, only skip if we haven't yet waited for the batch timeout
-	if len(b.pending) < b.opts.MinBatchSize && time.Since(b.batchSizeTimeout) < b.opts.BatchTimeout {
+	if len(b.pending) < b.opts.MinBatchSize && (b.opts.BatchTimeout == 0 || time.Since(b.batchSizeTimeout) < b.opts.BatchTimeout) {
 		return nil
 	}