diff --git a/plugins/in_forward/fw.c b/plugins/in_forward/fw.c
index e692f674cd1..1e4d83089af 100644
--- a/plugins/in_forward/fw.c
+++ b/plugins/in_forward/fw.c
@@ -351,6 +351,8 @@ static int in_fw_init(struct flb_input_instance *ins,
 
     ctx->coll_fd = ret;
 
+    pthread_mutex_init(&ctx->conn_mutex, NULL);
+
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -365,8 +367,11 @@ static void in_fw_pause(void *data, struct flb_config *config)
          * and wait for the ingestion to resume.
          */
         flb_input_collector_pause(ctx->coll_fd, ctx->ins);
-        fw_conn_del_all(ctx);
-        ctx->is_paused = FLB_TRUE;
+        if (pthread_mutex_lock(&ctx->conn_mutex)) {
+            fw_conn_del_all(ctx);
+            ctx->is_paused = FLB_TRUE;
+        }
+        pthread_mutex_unlock(&ctx->conn_mutex);
     }
 
     /*
@@ -385,8 +390,11 @@ static void in_fw_pause(void *data, struct flb_config *config)
 static void in_fw_resume(void *data, struct flb_config *config) {
     struct flb_in_fw_config *ctx = data;
     if (config->is_running == FLB_TRUE) {
-        ctx->is_paused = FLB_FALSE;
         flb_input_collector_resume(ctx->coll_fd, ctx->ins);
+        if (pthread_mutex_lock(&ctx->conn_mutex)) {
+            ctx->is_paused = FLB_FALSE;
+        }
+        pthread_mutex_unlock(&ctx->conn_mutex);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/plugins/in_forward/fw.h b/plugins/in_forward/fw.h
index 032371b7d3a..d51e1c47925 100644
--- a/plugins/in_forward/fw.h
+++ b/plugins/in_forward/fw.h
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@ struct flb_in_fw_config {
     struct flb_log_event_decoder *log_decoder;
     struct flb_log_event_encoder *log_encoder;
 
+    pthread_mutex_t conn_mutex;
+
     /* Plugin is paused */
     int is_paused;
 };