diff --git a/include/cppkafka/utils/buffered_producer.h b/include/cppkafka/utils/buffered_producer.h
index b01700d..1905345 100644
--- a/include/cppkafka/utils/buffered_producer.h
+++ b/include/cppkafka/utils/buffered_producer.h
@@ -703,25 +703,7 @@ void BufferedProducer<BufferType, Allocator>::produce(const Message& message) {
 
 template <typename BufferType, typename Allocator>
 void BufferedProducer<BufferType, Allocator>::async_flush() {
-    CounterGuard<size_t> counter_guard(flushes_in_progress_);
-    auto queue_flusher = [this](QueueType& queue, std::mutex & mutex)->void
-    {
-        QueueType flush_queue; // flush from temporary queue
-        swap_queues(queue, flush_queue, mutex);
-        
-        while (!flush_queue.empty()) {
-            async_produce(std::move(flush_queue.front()), false);
-            flush_queue.pop_front();
-        }
-    };
-    //Produce retry queue first since these messages were produced first
-    queue_flusher(retry_messages_, retry_mutex_);
-    //Produce recently enqueued messages
-    queue_flusher(messages_, mutex_);
-    // Flush the producer but don't wait. It is necessary to poll
-    // the producer at least once during this operation because
-    // async_produce() will not.
-    wait_for_acks(std::chrono::milliseconds(0));
+    flush(std::chrono::milliseconds::zero(), false);
 }
 
 template <typename BufferType, typename Allocator>
@@ -732,26 +714,34 @@ void BufferedProducer<BufferType, Allocator>::flush(bool preserve_order) {
 template <typename BufferType, typename Allocator>
 bool BufferedProducer<BufferType, Allocator>::flush(std::chrono::milliseconds timeout,
                                                     bool preserve_order) {
-    if (preserve_order) {
-        CounterGuard<size_t> counter_guard(flushes_in_progress_);
-        auto queue_flusher = [&timeout, this](QueueType& queue, std::mutex & mutex)->void
-        {
-            QueueType flush_queue; // flush from temporary queue
-            swap_queues(queue, flush_queue, mutex);
-            //Produce one message at a time and wait for acks until queue is empty
-            while (!flush_queue.empty()) {
+    CounterGuard<size_t> counter_guard(flushes_in_progress_);
+    auto queue_flusher = [timeout, preserve_order, this]
+                         (QueueType& queue, std::mutex & mutex)->void
+    {
+        QueueType flush_queue; // flush from temporary queue
+        swap_queues(queue, flush_queue, mutex);
+        //Produce one message at a time and wait for acks until queue is empty
+        while (!flush_queue.empty()) {
+            if (preserve_order) {
+                //When preserving order, we must ensure that each message
+                //gets delivered before producing the next one.
                 sync_produce(flush_queue.front(), timeout);
-                flush_queue.pop_front();
             }
-        };
-        //Produce retry queue first since these messages were produced first
-        queue_flusher(retry_messages_, retry_mutex_);
-        //Produce recently enqueued messages
-        queue_flusher(messages_, mutex_);
-    }
-    else {
-        //Produce all messages at once then wait for acks.
-        async_flush();
+            else {
+                //Produce as fast as possible w/o waiting. If one or more
+                //messages fail, they will be re-enqueued for retry
+                //on the next flush cycle, which causes re-ordering.
+                async_produce(flush_queue.front(), false);
+            }
+            flush_queue.pop_front();
+        }
+    };
+    //Produce retry queue first since these messages were produced first.
+    queue_flusher(retry_messages_, retry_mutex_);
+    //Produce recently enqueued messages
+    queue_flusher(messages_, mutex_);
+    if (!preserve_order) {
+        //Wait for acks from the messages produced above via async_produce
         wait_for_acks(timeout);
     }
     return pending_acks_ == 0;
@@ -759,20 +749,7 @@ bool BufferedProducer<BufferType, Allocator>::flush(std::chrono::milliseconds ti
 
 template <typename BufferType, typename Allocator>
 void BufferedProducer<BufferType, Allocator>::wait_for_acks() {
-    while (pending_acks_ > 0) {
-        try {
-            producer_.flush();
-        }
-        catch (const HandleException& ex) {
-            // If we just hit the timeout, keep going, otherwise re-throw
-            if (ex.get_error() == RD_KAFKA_RESP_ERR__TIMED_OUT) {
-                continue;
-            }
-            else {
-                throw;
-            }
-        }
-    }
+    wait_for_acks(producer_.get_timeout());
 }
 
 template <typename BufferType, typename Allocator>