diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e81000ea501..33d4758c8b6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 * Fix #3555: using the new builder for generic resources
 * Fix #3535: ensure clientKeyAlgo is set properly when loading config YAML from `fromKubeconfig`
 * Fix #3598: applying cancel to the correct future for waitUntilCondition and waitUntilReady
+* Fix #3609: adding locking to prevent long running Watcher methods from causing reconnects with concurrent processing
 
 #### Improvements
 
diff --git a/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/dsl/internal/WatcherWebSocketListener.java b/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/dsl/internal/WatcherWebSocketListener.java
index 857a47d3166..4c4897f4f98 100644
--- a/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/dsl/internal/WatcherWebSocketListener.java
+++ b/kubernetes-client/src/main/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/client/dsl/internal/WatcherWebSocketListener.java
@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@
 class WatcherWebSocketListener<T extends HasMetadata> extends WebSocketListener {
   protected static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(WatcherWebSocketListener.class);
   
+  // don't allow for concurrent failure and message processing
+  // if something is holding the message thread, this can lead to concurrent processing on the watcher
+  // or worse additional reconnection attempts while the previous threads are still held
+  private final Object reconnectLock = new Object();
+  
   private final CompletableFuture<Void> startedFuture = new CompletableFuture<>();
   protected final AbstractWatchManager<T> manager;
   
@@ -85,12 +90,16 @@ public void onFailure(WebSocket webSocket, Throwable t, Response response) {
       return;
     }
     
-    manager.scheduleReconnect();
+    synchronized (reconnectLock) {
+      manager.scheduleReconnect();
+    }
   }
   
   @Override
   public void onMessage(WebSocket webSocket, String text) {
-    manager.onMessage(text);
+    synchronized (reconnectLock) {
+      manager.onMessage(text);
+    }
   }
   
   private void pushException(KubernetesClientException exception) {
diff --git a/kubernetes-itests/src/test/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/WatchIT.java b/kubernetes-itests/src/test/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/WatchIT.java
index e251848d90b..f2f14b9c4d2 100644
--- a/kubernetes-itests/src/test/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/WatchIT.java
+++ b/kubernetes-itests/src/test/java/io/fabric8/kubernetes/WatchIT.java
@@ -16,12 +16,15 @@
 
 package io.fabric8.kubernetes;
 
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.ConfigMap;
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.ConfigMapBuilder;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.Pod;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.PodBuilder;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.KubernetesClient;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.Watch;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.Watcher;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.WatcherException;
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.dsl.Resource;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.dsl.base.PatchContext;
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.dsl.base.PatchType;
 import org.arquillian.cube.kubernetes.api.Session;
@@ -35,7 +38,9 @@
 
 import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 
 @RunWith(ArquillianConditionalRunner.class)
@@ -97,6 +102,78 @@ public void onClose() {
             .build());
 
     assertTrue(eventLatch.await(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
+    assertTrue(modifyLatch.await(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
+    watch.close();
+    assertTrue(closeLatch.await(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testWatchFailureHandling() throws InterruptedException {
+    String currentNamespace = session.getNamespace();
+    String name = "sample-configmap-watch";
+
+    Resource<ConfigMap> configMapClient = client.configMaps().inNamespace(currentNamespace).withName(name);
+
+    configMapClient.create(new ConfigMapBuilder().withNewMetadata().withName(name).endMetadata().build());
+
+    final CountDownLatch eventLatch = new CountDownLatch(1);
+    final CountDownLatch modifyLatch = new CountDownLatch(1);
+    final AtomicBoolean inMethod = new AtomicBoolean();
+    final CountDownLatch closeLatch = new CountDownLatch(1);
+    final AtomicBoolean concurrent = new AtomicBoolean();
+    Watch watch = configMapClient.watch(new Watcher<ConfigMap>() {
+      @Override
+      public void eventReceived(Action action, ConfigMap pod) {
+        eventLatch.countDown();
+
+        if (action.equals(Action.MODIFIED)) {
+          if (inMethod.getAndSet(true)) {
+            concurrent.set(true);
+            modifyLatch.countDown();
+          }
+          try {
+            // introduce a delay to cause the ping to terminate the connection
+            // if this doesn't work reliably, then an alternative would be to
+            // restart the apiserver
+            Thread.sleep(10000);
+          } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+            Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+            throw new AssertionError(e);
+          }
+          modifyLatch.countDown();
+          inMethod.set(false);
+        }
+      }
+
+      @Override
+      public void onClose(WatcherException cause) {
+
+      }
+
+      @Override
+      public void onClose() {
+        closeLatch.countDown();
+        logger.info("watch closed...");
+      }
+    });
+
+    configMapClient
+        .patch(PatchContext.of(PatchType.STRATEGIC_MERGE), new ConfigMapBuilder()
+            .withNewMetadata()
+            .addToLabels("foo", "bar")
+            .endMetadata()
+            .build());
+
+    configMapClient
+    .patch(PatchContext.of(PatchType.STRATEGIC_MERGE), new ConfigMapBuilder()
+        .withNewMetadata()
+        .addToLabels("foo", "bar1")
+        .endMetadata()
+        .build());
+
+    assertTrue(eventLatch.await(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
+    assertTrue(modifyLatch.await(15, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
+    assertFalse(concurrent.get());
     watch.close();
     assertTrue(closeLatch.await(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
   }