diff --git a/system/athena/athenad.py b/system/athena/athenad.py
index c926de97840483..2053900377b5f1 100755
--- a/system/athena/athenad.py
+++ b/system/athena/athenad.py
@@ -97,11 +97,13 @@ def from_dict(cls, d: dict) -> UploadItem:
 dispatcher["echo"] = lambda s: s
 recv_queue: Queue[str] = queue.Queue()
 send_queue: Queue[str] = queue.Queue()
-upload_queue: Queue[UploadItem] = queue.Queue()
+
 low_priority_send_queue: Queue[str] = queue.Queue()
 log_recv_queue: Queue[str] = queue.Queue()
-cancelled_uploads: set[str] = set()
 
+upload_lock = threading.Lock()
+upload_queue: Queue[UploadItem] = queue.Queue()
+cancelled_uploads: set[str] = set()
 cur_upload_items: dict[int, UploadItem | None] = {}
 
 
@@ -130,9 +132,10 @@ def initialize(upload_queue: Queue[UploadItem]) -> None:
   @staticmethod
   def cache(upload_queue: Queue[UploadItem]) -> None:
     try:
-      queue: list[UploadItem | None] = list(upload_queue.queue)
-      items = [asdict(i) for i in queue if i is not None and (i.id not in cancelled_uploads)]
-      Params().put("AthenadUploadQueue", json.dumps(items))
+      with upload_lock:
+        queue: list[UploadItem | None] = list(upload_queue.queue)
+        items = [asdict(i) for i in queue if i is not None and (i.id not in cancelled_uploads)]
+        Params().put("AthenadUploadQueue", json.dumps(items))
     except Exception:
       cloudlog.exception("athena.UploadQueueCache.cache.exception")
 
@@ -191,21 +194,25 @@ def jsonrpc_handler(end_event: threading.Event) -> None:
 
 
 def retry_upload(tid: int, end_event: threading.Event, increase_count: bool = True) -> None:
-  item = cur_upload_items[tid]
-  if item is not None and item.retry_count < MAX_RETRY_COUNT:
-    new_retry_count = item.retry_count + 1 if increase_count else item.retry_count
-
-    item = replace(
-      item,
-      retry_count=new_retry_count,
-      progress=0,
-      current=False
-    )
-    upload_queue.put_nowait(item)
-    UploadQueueCache.cache(upload_queue)
+  retry = False
+  with upload_lock:
+    item = cur_upload_items[tid]
+    if item is not None and item.retry_count < MAX_RETRY_COUNT:
+      new_retry_count = item.retry_count + 1 if increase_count else item.retry_count
+
+      item = replace(
+        item,
+        retry_count=new_retry_count,
+        progress=0,
+        current=False
+      )
+      upload_queue.put_nowait(item)
+      retry = True
 
     cur_upload_items[tid] = None
 
+  UploadQueueCache.cache(upload_queue)
+  if retry:
     for _ in range(RETRY_DELAY):
       time.sleep(1)
       if end_event.is_set():
@@ -224,7 +231,8 @@ def cb(sm, item, tid, end_event: threading.Event, sz: int, cur: int) -> None:
   if end_event.is_set():
     raise AbortTransferException
 
-  cur_upload_items[tid] = replace(item, progress=cur / sz if sz else 1)
+  with upload_lock:
+    cur_upload_items[tid] = replace(item, progress=cur / sz if sz else 1)
 
 
 def upload_handler(end_event: threading.Event) -> None:
@@ -232,14 +240,14 @@ def upload_handler(end_event: threading.Event) -> None:
   tid = threading.get_ident()
 
   while not end_event.is_set():
-    cur_upload_items[tid] = None
-
     try:
-      cur_upload_items[tid] = item = replace(upload_queue.get(timeout=1), current=True)
+      with upload_lock:
+        cur_upload_items[tid] = None
+        cur_upload_items[tid] = item = replace(upload_queue.get_nowait(), current=True)
 
-      if item.id in cancelled_uploads:
-        cancelled_uploads.remove(item.id)
-        continue
+        if item.id in cancelled_uploads:
+          cancelled_uploads.remove(item.id)
+          continue
 
       # Remove item if too old
       age = datetime.now() - datetime.fromtimestamp(item.created_at / 1000)
@@ -280,6 +288,7 @@ def upload_handler(end_event: threading.Event) -> None:
         retry_upload(tid, end_event, False)
 
     except queue.Empty:
+      end_event.wait(1)
       pass
     except Exception:
       cloudlog.exception("athena.upload_handler.exception")
@@ -403,7 +412,10 @@ def uploadFilesToUrls(files_data: list[UploadFileDict]) -> UploadFilesToUrlRespo
     )
     upload_id = hashlib.sha1(str(item).encode()).hexdigest()
     item = replace(item, id=upload_id)
-    upload_queue.put_nowait(item)
+
+    with upload_lock:
+      upload_queue.put_nowait(item)
+
     items.append(asdict(item))
 
   UploadQueueCache.cache(upload_queue)
@@ -418,8 +430,9 @@ def uploadFilesToUrls(files_data: list[UploadFileDict]) -> UploadFilesToUrlRespo
 
 @dispatcher.add_method
 def listUploadQueue() -> list[UploadItemDict]:
-  items = list(upload_queue.queue) + list(cur_upload_items.values())
-  return [asdict(i) for i in items if (i is not None) and (i.id not in cancelled_uploads)]
+  with upload_lock:
+    items = list(upload_queue.queue) + list(cur_upload_items.values())
+    return [asdict(i) for i in items if (i is not None) and (i.id not in cancelled_uploads)]
 
 
 @dispatcher.add_method
@@ -427,13 +440,14 @@ def cancelUpload(upload_id: str | list[str]) -> dict[str, int | str]:
   if not isinstance(upload_id, list):
     upload_id = [upload_id]
 
-  uploading_ids = {item.id for item in list(upload_queue.queue)}
-  cancelled_ids = uploading_ids.intersection(upload_id)
-  if len(cancelled_ids) == 0:
-    return {"success": 0, "error": "not found"}
+  with upload_lock:
+    uploading_ids = {item.id for item in list(upload_queue.queue)}
+    cancelled_ids = uploading_ids.intersection(upload_id)
+    if len(cancelled_ids) == 0:
+      return {"success": 0, "error": "not found"}
 
-  cancelled_uploads.update(cancelled_ids)
-  return {"success": 1}
+    cancelled_uploads.update(cancelled_ids)
+    return {"success": 1}
 
 @dispatcher.add_method
 def setRouteViewed(route: str) -> dict[str, int | str]: