diff --git a/overlay/overlay.cpp b/overlay/overlay.cpp
index 8e35e2a2..3e10daec 100644
--- a/overlay/overlay.cpp
+++ b/overlay/overlay.cpp
@@ -421,48 +421,50 @@ void OverlayImpl::bcast_gc() {
   CHECK(delivered_broadcasts_.size() == bcast_lru_.size());
 }
 
-void OverlayImpl::send_message_to_neighbours(td::BufferSlice data) {
-  if (neighbours_.empty()) {
-    // TODO: limit retries
+void OverlayImpl::wait_neighbours_not_empty(td::Promise<td::Unit> promise, int max_retries) {
+  if (!neighbours_.empty()) {
+    promise.set_result(td::Unit());
+  } else if (max_retries > 0) {
     delay_action(
-        [SelfId = actor_id(this), data = std::move(data)]() mutable {
-          td::actor::send_closure(SelfId, &OverlayImpl::send_message_to_neighbours, std::move(data));
+        [SelfId = actor_id(this), promise = std::move(promise), max_retries]() mutable {
+          td::actor::send_closure(SelfId, &OverlayImpl::wait_neighbours_not_empty, std::move(promise), max_retries - 1);
         },
         td::Timestamp::in(0.5));
-    return;
-  }
-  for (auto &n : neighbours_) {
-    td::actor::send_closure(manager_, &OverlayManager::send_message, n, local_id_, overlay_id_, data.clone());
+  } else {
+    promise.set_error(td::Status::Error(ErrorCode::timeout));
   }
 }
 
+void OverlayImpl::send_message_to_neighbours(td::BufferSlice data) {
+  wait_neighbours_not_empty([this, data = std::move(data)](td::Result<td::Unit> R) {
+    if (R.is_error()) {
+      return;
+    }
+    for (auto &n : neighbours_) {
+      td::actor::send_closure(manager_, &OverlayManager::send_message, n, local_id_, overlay_id_, data.clone());
+    }
+  });
+}
+
 void OverlayImpl::send_broadcast(PublicKeyHash send_as, td::uint32 flags, td::BufferSlice data) {
-  if (neighbours_.empty()) {
-    // TODO: limit retries
-    delay_action(
-        [SelfId = actor_id(this), send_as, flags, data = std::move(data)]() mutable {
-          td::actor::send_closure(SelfId, &OverlayImpl::send_broadcast, send_as, flags, std::move(data));
-        },
-        td::Timestamp::in(0.5));
-    return;
-  }
-  auto S = BroadcastSimple::create_new(actor_id(this), keyring_, send_as, std::move(data), flags);
-  if (S.is_error()) {
-    LOG(WARNING) << "failed to send broadcast: " << S;
-  }
+  wait_neighbours_not_empty([this, send_as, flags, data = std::move(data)](td::Result<td::Unit> R) mutable {
+    if (R.is_error()) {
+      return;
+    }
+    auto S = BroadcastSimple::create_new(actor_id(this), keyring_, send_as, std::move(data), flags);
+    if (S.is_error()) {
+      LOG(WARNING) << "failed to send broadcast: " << S;
+    }
+  });
 }
 
 void OverlayImpl::send_broadcast_fec(PublicKeyHash send_as, td::uint32 flags, td::BufferSlice data) {
-  if (neighbours_.empty()) {
-    // TODO: limit retries
-    delay_action(
-        [SelfId = actor_id(this), send_as, flags, data = std::move(data)]() mutable {
-          td::actor::send_closure(SelfId, &OverlayImpl::send_broadcast_fec, send_as, flags, std::move(data));
-        },
-        td::Timestamp::in(0.5));
-    return;
-  }
-  OverlayOutboundFecBroadcast::create(std::move(data), flags, actor_id(this), send_as);
+  wait_neighbours_not_empty([this, send_as, flags, data = std::move(data)](td::Result<td::Unit> R) mutable {
+    if (R.is_error()) {
+      return;
+    }
+    OverlayOutboundFecBroadcast::create(std::move(data), flags, actor_id(this), send_as);
+  });
 }
 
 void OverlayImpl::print(td::StringBuilder &sb) {
diff --git a/overlay/overlay.hpp b/overlay/overlay.hpp
index 07003e09..f52de86d 100644
--- a/overlay/overlay.hpp
+++ b/overlay/overlay.hpp
@@ -266,6 +266,8 @@ class OverlayImpl : public Overlay {
     priority_broadcast_receivers_ = std::move(nodes);
   }
 
+  void wait_neighbours_not_empty(td::Promise<td::Unit> promise, int max_retries = 10);
+
  private:
   template <class T>
   void process_query(adnl::AdnlNodeIdShort src, T &query, td::Promise<td::BufferSlice> promise) {