diff --git a/include/libcamera/internal/pipeline_handler.h b/include/libcamera/internal/pipeline_handler.h
index ec4f662d..83f8bd9f 100644
--- a/include/libcamera/internal/pipeline_handler.h
+++ b/include/libcamera/internal/pipeline_handler.h
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ public:
 protected:
 	void registerCamera(std::shared_ptr<Camera> camera);
 	void hotplugMediaDevice(MediaDevice *media);
+	void setMaxQueueRequests(uint32_t maxRequests);
 
 	virtual int queueRequestDevice(Camera *camera, Request *request) = 0;
 	virtual void stopDevice(Camera *camera) = 0;
@@ -97,6 +98,9 @@ private:
 	Mutex lock_;
 	unsigned int useCount_ LIBCAMERA_TSA_GUARDED_BY(lock_);
 
+	uint32_t maxQueueRequests_;
+	uint32_t requestsQueueCounter_;
+
 	friend class PipelineHandlerFactoryBase;
 };
 
diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/ipu3.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/ipu3.cpp
index e4d79ea4..d1d42f78 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/ipu3.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/ipu3/ipu3.cpp
@@ -422,6 +422,7 @@ CameraConfiguration::Status IPU3CameraConfiguration::validate()
 PipelineHandlerIPU3::PipelineHandlerIPU3(CameraManager *manager)
 	: PipelineHandler(manager), cio2MediaDev_(nullptr), imguMediaDev_(nullptr)
 {
+	setMaxQueueRequests(ipa::ipu3::kMaxFrameContexts);
 }
 
 std::unique_ptr<CameraConfiguration>
diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/rkisp1/rkisp1.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline/rkisp1/rkisp1.cpp
index eb9ad65c..a48adba9 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/rkisp1/rkisp1.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/rkisp1/rkisp1.cpp
@@ -599,6 +599,7 @@ CameraConfiguration::Status RkISP1CameraConfiguration::validate()
 PipelineHandlerRkISP1::PipelineHandlerRkISP1(CameraManager *manager)
 	: PipelineHandler(manager), hasSelfPath_(true)
 {
+	setMaxQueueRequests(ipa::rkisp1::kMaxFrameContexts);
 }
 
 std::unique_ptr<CameraConfiguration>
diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline_handler.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline_handler.cpp
index cfade490..103f9db0 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline_handler.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline_handler.cpp
@@ -67,7 +67,8 @@ LOG_DEFINE_CATEGORY(Pipeline)
  * through the PipelineHandlerFactoryBase::create() function.
  */
 PipelineHandler::PipelineHandler(CameraManager *manager)
-	: manager_(manager), useCount_(0)
+	: manager_(manager), useCount_(0), maxQueueRequests_(0),
+	  requestsQueueCounter_(0)
 {
 }
 
@@ -428,6 +429,9 @@ void PipelineHandler::doQueueRequest(Request *request)
 	Camera::Private *data = camera->_d();
 	data->queuedRequests_.push_back(request);
 
+	if (maxQueueRequests_)
+		requestsQueueCounter_++;
+
 	request->_d()->sequence_ = data->requestSequence_++;
 
 	if (request->_d()->cancelled_) {
@@ -455,6 +459,10 @@ void PipelineHandler::doQueueRequests()
 		if (!request->_d()->prepared_)
 			break;
 
+		if (maxQueueRequests_ &&
+		    requestsQueueCounter_ >= maxQueueRequests_)
+			break;
+
 		doQueueRequest(request);
 		waitingRequests_.pop();
 	}
@@ -531,6 +539,9 @@ void PipelineHandler::completeRequest(Request *request)
 		ASSERT(!req->hasPendingBuffers());
 		data->queuedRequests_.pop_front();
 		camera->requestComplete(req);
+
+		if (maxQueueRequests_)
+			requestsQueueCounter_--;
 	}
 }
 
@@ -647,6 +658,44 @@ void PipelineHandler::disconnect()
  * constant for the whole lifetime of the pipeline handler.
  */
 
+/**
+ * \var PipelineHandler::maxQueueRequests_
+ * \brief Maximum number of in-flight requests that can be queued
+ *
+ * A hardware can handle a certain number of maximum requests at a given
+ * point. If such a constraint exists, set maxQueueRequests_ via
+ * \a setMaxQueueRequests() in the derived pipeline handler.
+ *
+ * The derived pipeline handler can choose not to define such constraint as
+ * well. In that case, the derived pipeline handler can avoid setting
+ * \a setMaxQueueReqeuests(), hence \a maxQueueRequests_ and
+ * \a requestsQueueCounter_ will be 0.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * \var PipelineHandler::requestsQueueCounter_
+ * \brief Number of requests queued to the underlying hardware
+ *
+ * If \a setMaxQueueRequests() is set by the derived pipeline handler,
+ * requestsQueueCounter_ reflects the number of requests queued
+ * to the underlying hardware by the pipeline handler.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * \brief Sets the maximum number of requests that can be queued
+ * \param[in] maxRequests Maximum number of in-flight requests
+ *
+ * A hardware can handle a certain number of requests at a given point.
+ * This function sets the maximum number of in-flight requests that can
+ * be queued to the hardware by the pipeline handler. Each derived pipeline
+ * handler should set the maximum number of in-flight requests it can handle
+ * at a given point using this function, if at all such a constraint exists.
+ */
+void PipelineHandler::setMaxQueueRequests(uint32_t maxRequests)
+{
+	maxQueueRequests_ = maxRequests;
+}
+
 /**
  * \fn PipelineHandler::name()
  * \brief Retrieve the pipeline handler name