diff --git a/pubsub/pubsub.go b/pubsub/pubsub.go
index f68b17e03e..077637fb4e 100644
--- a/pubsub/pubsub.go
+++ b/pubsub/pubsub.go
@@ -565,17 +565,28 @@ func (s *Subscription) Receive(ctx context.Context) (_ *Message, err error) {
 				if s.preReceiveBatchHook != nil {
 					s.preReceiveBatchHook(batchSize)
 				}
-				msgs, err := s.getNextBatch(batchSize)
-				s.mu.Lock()
-				defer s.mu.Unlock()
-				if err != nil {
-					// Non-retryable error from ReceiveBatch -> permanent error.
-					s.err = err
-				} else if len(msgs) > 0 {
-					s.q = append(s.q, msgs...)
+				resultChannel := s.getNextBatch(batchSize)
+				for msgsOrError := range resultChannel {
+					if msgsOrError.msgs != nil && len(msgsOrError.msgs) > 0 {
+						// messages received from channel
+						s.mu.Lock()
+						s.q = append(s.q, msgsOrError.msgs...)
+						s.mu.Unlock()
+						// notify that queue should now have messages
+						s.waitc <- struct{}{}
+					} else if msgsOrError.err != nil {
+						// err can receive message only after batch group completes
+						// Non-retryable error from ReceiveBatch -> permanent error
+						s.mu.Lock()
+						s.err = msgsOrError.err
+						s.mu.Unlock()
+					}
 				}
+				// batch reception finished
+				s.mu.Lock()
 				close(s.waitc)
 				s.waitc = nil
+				s.mu.Unlock()
 			}()
 		}
 		if len(s.q) > 0 {
@@ -625,11 +636,11 @@ func (s *Subscription) Receive(ctx context.Context) (_ *Message, err error) {
 		}
 		// A call to ReceiveBatch must be in flight. Wait for it.
 		waitc := s.waitc
-		s.mu.Unlock()
+		s.mu.Unlock() // unlock to allow message or error processing from background goroutine
 		select {
 		case <-waitc:
-			s.mu.Lock()
 			// Continue to top of loop.
+			s.mu.Lock()
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			s.mu.Lock()
 			return nil, ctx.Err()
@@ -637,16 +648,19 @@ func (s *Subscription) Receive(ctx context.Context) (_ *Message, err error) {
 	}
 }
 
-// getNextBatch gets the next batch of messages from the server and returns it.
-func (s *Subscription) getNextBatch(nMessages int) ([]*driver.Message, error) {
-	var mu sync.Mutex
-	var q []*driver.Message
+type msgsOrError struct {
+	msgs []*driver.Message
+	err  error
+}
 
+// getNextBatch gets the next batch of messages from the server. It will return a channel that will itself return the
+// messages as they come from each independent batch, or an operation error
+func (s *Subscription) getNextBatch(nMessages int) chan msgsOrError {
 	// Split nMessages into batches based on recvBatchOpts; we'll make a
 	// separate ReceiveBatch call for each batch, and aggregate the results in
 	// msgs.
 	batches := batcher.Split(nMessages, s.recvBatchOpts)
-
+	result := make(chan msgsOrError, len(batches))
 	g, ctx := errgroup.WithContext(s.backgroundCtx)
 	for _, maxMessagesInBatch := range batches {
 		// Make a copy of the loop variable since it will be used by a goroutine.
@@ -663,16 +677,18 @@ func (s *Subscription) getNextBatch(nMessages int) ([]*driver.Message, error) {
 			if err != nil {
 				return wrapError(s.driver, err)
 			}
-			mu.Lock()
-			defer mu.Unlock()
-			q = append(q, msgs...)
+			result <- msgsOrError{msgs: msgs}
 			return nil
 		})
 	}
-	if err := g.Wait(); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	return q, nil
+	go func() {
+		// wait on group completion on the background and proper channel closing
+		if err := g.Wait(); err != nil {
+			result <- msgsOrError{err: err}
+		}
+		close(result)
+	}()
+	return result
 }
 
 var errSubscriptionShutdown = gcerr.Newf(gcerr.FailedPrecondition, nil, "pubsub: Subscription has been Shutdown")
diff --git a/pubsub/pubsub_test.go b/pubsub/pubsub_test.go
index 3c42442c68..ddce3147b9 100644
--- a/pubsub/pubsub_test.go
+++ b/pubsub/pubsub_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"net/url"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -281,6 +282,43 @@ func TestCancelTwoReceives(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+type secondReceiveBlockedDriverSub struct {
+	driver.Subscription
+	receiveCounter atomic.Uint64
+}
+
+func (s *secondReceiveBlockedDriverSub) ReceiveBatch(ctx context.Context, _ int) ([]*driver.Message, error) {
+	s.receiveCounter.Add(1)
+	if s.receiveCounter.Load() > 1 {
+		// wait after 1st request for the context to finish before returning the batch result
+		<-ctx.Done()
+	}
+	msg := &driver.Message{Body: []byte(fmt.Sprintf("message #%d", s.receiveCounter.Load()))}
+	return []*driver.Message{msg}, nil
+}
+func (*secondReceiveBlockedDriverSub) CanNack() bool          { return false }
+func (*secondReceiveBlockedDriverSub) IsRetryable(error) bool { return false }
+func (*secondReceiveBlockedDriverSub) Close() error           { return nil }
+
+func TestIndependentBatchReturn(t *testing.T) {
+	// We want to test the scenario when multiple batch requests are sent, as long as one of them succeeds, it should
+	// not block the Subscription.Receive result
+	s := NewSubscription(
+		&secondReceiveBlockedDriverSub{},
+		&batcher.Options{MaxBatchSize: 1, MaxHandlers: 2}, // force 2 batches, by allowing 2 handlers and 1 msg per batch
+		nil,
+	)
+	// set the false calculated subscription batch size to force 2 batches to be called
+	s.runningBatchSize = 2
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	defer s.Shutdown(ctx)
+	_, err := s.Receive(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal("Receive should not fail", err)
+		return
+	}
+}
+
 func TestRetryTopic(t *testing.T) {
 	// Test that Send is retried if the driver returns a retryable error.
 	ctx := context.Background()