diff --git a/demoapp/settings.py b/demoapp/settings.py
index cab758b..b0cf370 100644
--- a/demoapp/settings.py
+++ b/demoapp/settings.py
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@
     'TEMPLATE_ENGINE': 'sendmail',
     'CELERY_ENABLED': True,
     'MAX_RETRIES': 0,
-    'BATCH_SIZE': 200,
+    'BATCH_SIZE': 100,
     'BATCH_DELIVERY_TIMEOUT': 30,
     'MESSAGE_ID_ENABLED': True,
     'DEFAULT_PRIORITY': 'medium',
diff --git a/sendmail/tasks.py b/sendmail/tasks.py
index 6497552..f70e704 100644
--- a/sendmail/tasks.py
+++ b/sendmail/tasks.py
@@ -35,10 +35,10 @@ def send_queued_mail(*args, **kwargs):
         To be called by the Celery task manager.
         """
         while True:
-            if not get_queued().exists():
-                break
             queued_emails = get_queued().select_for_update(of=('self',), skip_locked=True)
             with transaction.atomic():
+                if not queued_emails:
+                    break
                 try:
                     _send_bulk(queued_emails, uses_multiprocessing=False)
                 except Exception as e: