diff --git a/server/src/main/java/io/druid/server/AsyncQueryForwardingServlet.java b/server/src/main/java/io/druid/server/AsyncQueryForwardingServlet.java
index b7a9057b92a..d4ae69cc86c 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/io/druid/server/AsyncQueryForwardingServlet.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/io/druid/server/AsyncQueryForwardingServlet.java
@@ -69,6 +69,9 @@ public class AsyncQueryForwardingServlet extends AsyncProxyServlet
   private static final String QUERY_ATTRIBUTE = "io.druid.proxy.query";
   private static final String OBJECTMAPPER_ATTRIBUTE = "io.druid.proxy.objectMapper";
 
+  private static final int CANCELLATION_TIMEOUT_MILLIS = 500;
+  private static final int MAX_QUEUED_CANCELLATIONS = 64;
+
   private static void handleException(HttpServletResponse response, ObjectMapper objectMapper, Exception exception)
       throws IOException
   {
@@ -93,6 +96,8 @@ public class AsyncQueryForwardingServlet extends AsyncProxyServlet
   private final ServiceEmitter emitter;
   private final RequestLogger requestLogger;
 
+  private HttpClient broadcastClient;
+
   public AsyncQueryForwardingServlet(
       @Json ObjectMapper jsonMapper,
       @Smile ObjectMapper smileMapper,
@@ -112,6 +117,23 @@ public class AsyncQueryForwardingServlet extends AsyncProxyServlet
     this.requestLogger = requestLogger;
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public void init() throws ServletException
+  {
+    // separate client with more aggressive connection timeouts
+    // to prevent cancellations requests from blocking queries
+    broadcastClient = httpClientProvider.get();
+    broadcastClient.setConnectTimeout(CANCELLATION_TIMEOUT_MILLIS);
+    broadcastClient.setMaxRequestsQueuedPerDestination(MAX_QUEUED_CANCELLATIONS);
+
+    try {
+      broadcastClient.start();
+    } catch(Exception e) {
+      throw new ServletException(e);
+    }
+    super.init();
+  }
+
   @Override
   protected void service(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException
   {
@@ -132,9 +154,10 @@ public class AsyncQueryForwardingServlet extends AsyncProxyServlet
         // to keep the code simple, the proxy servlet will also send a request to one of the default brokers
         if (!host.equals(defaultHost)) {
           // issue async requests
-          getHttpClient()
+          broadcastClient
               .newRequest(rewriteURI(request, host))
               .method(HttpMethod.DELETE)
+              .timeout(CANCELLATION_TIMEOUT_MILLIS, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
               .send(
                   new Response.CompleteListener()
                   {