diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
index 37bb59d010..1ff4c5969f 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
@@ -80,7 +80,8 @@ proc init*(_: type[GossipSubParams]): GossipSubParams =
       enablePX: false,
       bandwidthEstimatebps: 100_000_000, # 100 Mbps or 12.5 MBps
       iwantTimeout: 3 * GossipSubHeartbeatInterval,
-      overheadRateLimit: Opt.none(tuple[bytes: int, interval: Duration])
+      overheadRateLimit: Opt.none(tuple[bytes: int, interval: Duration]),
+      disconnectPeerAboveRateLimit: false
     )
 
 proc validateParameters*(parameters: GossipSubParams): Result[void, cstring] =
@@ -384,17 +385,17 @@ proc validateAndRelay(g: GossipSub,
 proc dataAndTopicsIdSize(msgs: seq[Message]): int =
   msgs.mapIt(it.data.len + it.topicIds.mapIt(it.len).foldl(a + b, 0)).foldl(a + b, 0)
 
-proc rateLimit*(g: GossipSub, peer: PubSubPeer, rpcMsgOpt: Opt[RPCMsg], msgSize: int) {.raises:[PeerRateLimitError, CatchableError].} =
+proc rateLimit*(g: GossipSub, peer: PubSubPeer, rpcMsgOpt: Opt[RPCMsg], msgSize: int) {.raises:[PeerRateLimitError, CatchableError], async.} =
   # In this way we count even ignored fields by protobuf
 
   var rmsg = rpcMsgOpt.valueOr:
     peer.overheadRateLimitOpt.withValue(overheadRateLimit):
       if not overheadRateLimit.tryConsume(msgSize):
-        libp2p_gossipsub_peers_rate_limit_disconnections.inc(labelValues = [peer.getAgent()]) # let's just measure at the beginning for test purposes.
-        debug "Peer sent a msg that couldn't be decoded and it's above rate limit", peer, uselessAppBytesNum = msgSize
-        # discard g.disconnectPeer(peer)
-        # debug "Peer disconnected", peer, uselessAppBytesNum = msgSize
-        # raise newException(PeerRateLimitError, "Peer sent a msg that couldn't be decoded and it's above rate limit")
+        libp2p_gossipsub_peers_rate_limit_hits.inc(labelValues = [peer.getAgent()]) # let's just measure at the beginning for test purposes.
+        debug "Peer sent a msg that couldn't be decoded and it's above rate limit.", peer, uselessAppBytesNum = msgSize
+        if g.parameters.disconnectPeerAboveRateLimit:
+          await g.disconnectPeer(peer)
+          raise newException(PeerRateLimitError, "Peer disconnected because it's above rate limit.")
 
     raise newException(CatchableError, "Peer msg couldn't be decoded")
 
@@ -410,11 +411,11 @@ proc rateLimit*(g: GossipSub, peer: PubSubPeer, rpcMsgOpt: Opt[RPCMsg], msgSize:
 
   peer.overheadRateLimitOpt.withValue(overheadRateLimit):
     if not overheadRateLimit.tryConsume(uselessAppBytesNum):
-      libp2p_gossipsub_peers_rate_limit_disconnections.inc(labelValues = [peer.getAgent()]) # let's just measure at the beginning for test purposes.
+      libp2p_gossipsub_peers_rate_limit_hits.inc(labelValues = [peer.getAgent()]) # let's just measure at the beginning for test purposes.
       debug "Peer sent too much useless application data and it's above rate limit.", peer, msgSize, uselessAppBytesNum, rmsg
-      # discard g.disconnectPeer(peer)
-      # debug "Peer disconnected", peer, msgSize, uselessAppBytesNum
-      # raise newException(PeerRateLimitError, "Peer sent too much useless application data and it's above rate limit.")
+      if g.parameters.disconnectPeerAboveRateLimit:
+        await g.disconnectPeer(peer)
+        raise newException(PeerRateLimitError, "Peer disconnected because it's above rate limit.")
 
 method rpcHandler*(g: GossipSub,
                   peer: PubSubPeer,
@@ -423,11 +424,11 @@ method rpcHandler*(g: GossipSub,
   let msgSize = data.len
   var rpcMsg = decodeRpcMsg(data).valueOr:
     debug "failed to decode msg from peer", peer, err = error
-    rateLimit(g, peer, Opt.none(RPCMsg), msgSize)
+    await rateLimit(g, peer, Opt.none(RPCMsg), msgSize)
     return
 
   trace "decoded msg from peer", peer, msg = rpcMsg.shortLog
-  rateLimit(g, peer, Opt.some(rpcMsg), msgSize)
+  await rateLimit(g, peer, Opt.some(rpcMsg), msgSize)
 
   # trigger hooks
   peer.recvObservers(rpcMsg)
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/scoring.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/scoring.nim
index f1c1e923f3..4fe3060723 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/scoring.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/scoring.nim
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ declareGauge(libp2p_gossipsub_peers_score_invalidMessageDeliveries, "Detailed go
 declareGauge(libp2p_gossipsub_peers_score_appScore, "Detailed gossipsub scoring metric", labels = ["agent"])
 declareGauge(libp2p_gossipsub_peers_score_behaviourPenalty, "Detailed gossipsub scoring metric", labels = ["agent"])
 declareGauge(libp2p_gossipsub_peers_score_colocationFactor, "Detailed gossipsub scoring metric", labels = ["agent"])
-declarePublicCounter(libp2p_gossipsub_peers_rate_limit_disconnections, "The number of peer disconnections by gossipsub because of rate limit", labels = ["agent"])
+declarePublicCounter(libp2p_gossipsub_peers_rate_limit_hits, "The number of times peers were above their rate limit", labels = ["agent"])
 
 proc init*(_: type[TopicParams]): TopicParams =
   TopicParams(
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ proc punishInvalidMessage*(g: GossipSub, peer: PubSubPeer, msg: Message) =
   peer.overheadRateLimitOpt.withValue(overheadRateLimit):
     if not overheadRateLimit.tryConsume(uselessAppBytesNum):
       debug "Peer sent invalid message and it's above rate limit", peer, uselessAppBytesNum
-      libp2p_gossipsub_peers_rate_limit_disconnections.inc(labelValues = [peer.getAgent()]) # let's just measure at the beginning for test purposes.
+      libp2p_gossipsub_peers_rate_limit_hits.inc(labelValues = [peer.getAgent()]) # let's just measure at the beginning for test purposes.
       # discard g.disconnectPeer(peer)
       # debug "Peer disconnected", peer, uselessAppBytesNum
       # raise newException(PeerRateLimitError, "Peer sent invalid message and it's above rate limit")
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/types.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/types.nim
index 635fc91522..3387e914df 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/types.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub/types.nim
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ type
     iwantTimeout*: Duration
 
     overheadRateLimit*: Opt[tuple[bytes: int, interval: Duration]]
+    disconnectPeerAboveRateLimit*: bool
 
   BackoffTable* = Table[string, Table[PeerId, Moment]]
   ValidationSeenTable* = Table[MessageId, HashSet[PubSubPeer]]