diff --git a/hibernate-infinispan/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cache/infinispan/access/PutFromLoadValidator.java b/hibernate-infinispan/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cache/infinispan/access/PutFromLoadValidator.java
index 4f43650b03..f23f9abda4 100644
--- a/hibernate-infinispan/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cache/infinispan/access/PutFromLoadValidator.java
+++ b/hibernate-infinispan/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cache/infinispan/access/PutFromLoadValidator.java
@@ -416,7 +416,7 @@ public class PutFromLoadValidator {
 				PendingPutMap entry = it.next();
 				if (entry.acquireLock(60, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
 					try {
-						entry.invalidate(now, expirationPeriod);
+						entry.invalidate(now);
 					}
 					finally {
 						entry.releaseLock();
@@ -548,7 +548,7 @@ public class PutFromLoadValidator {
 						continue;
 					}
 					long now = System.currentTimeMillis();
-					pending.invalidate(now, expirationPeriod);
+					pending.invalidate(now);
 					pending.addInvalidator(lockOwner, valueForPFER, now);
 				}
 				finally {
@@ -638,6 +638,8 @@ public class PutFromLoadValidator {
 	 * This class is NOT THREAD SAFE. All operations on it must be performed with the lock held.
 	 */
 	private class PendingPutMap extends Lock {
+		// Number of pending puts which trigger garbage collection
+		private static final int GC_THRESHOLD = 10;
 		private PendingPut singlePendingPut;
 		private Map<Object, PendingPut> fullMap;
 		private final java.util.concurrent.locks.Lock lock = new ReentrantLock();
@@ -705,6 +707,9 @@ public class PutFromLoadValidator {
 				}
 				else {
 					fullMap.put( pendingPut.owner, pendingPut );
+					if (fullMap.size() >= GC_THRESHOLD) {
+						gc();
+					}
 				}
 			}
 			else {
@@ -750,7 +755,7 @@ public class PutFromLoadValidator {
 			lock.unlock();
 		}
 
-		public void invalidate(long now, long expirationPeriod) {
+		public void invalidate(long now) {
 			if ( singlePendingPut != null ) {
 				if (singlePendingPut.invalidate(now, expirationPeriod)) {
 					singlePendingPut = null;
@@ -766,6 +771,27 @@ public class PutFromLoadValidator {
 			}
 		}
 
+		/**
+		 * Running {@link #gc()} is important when the key is regularly queried but it is not
+		 * present in DB. In such case, the putFromLoad would not be called at all and we would
+		 * leak pending puts. Cache expiration should handle the case when the pending puts
+		 * are not accessed frequently; when these are accessed, we have to do the housekeeping
+		 * internally to prevent unlimited growth of the map.
+		 * The pending puts will get their timestamps when the map reaches {@link #GC_THRESHOLD}
+		 * entries; after expiration period these will be removed completely either through
+		 * invalidation or when we try to register next pending put.
+		 */
+		private void gc() {
+			assert fullMap != null;
+			long now = System.currentTimeMillis();
+			for ( Iterator<PendingPut> it = fullMap.values().iterator(); it.hasNext(); ) {
+				PendingPut pp = it.next();
+				if (pp.gc(now, expirationPeriod)) {
+					it.remove();
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
 		public void addInvalidator(Object owner, Object valueForPFER, long now) {
 			assert owner != null;
 			if (invalidators == null) {
@@ -885,6 +911,10 @@ public class PutFromLoadValidator {
 
 		public boolean invalidate(long now, long expirationPeriod) {
 			completed = true;
+			return gc(now, expirationPeriod);
+		}
+
+		public boolean gc(long now, long expirationPeriod) {
 			if (registeredTimestamp == Long.MIN_VALUE) {
 				registeredTimestamp = now;
 			}
diff --git a/hibernate-infinispan/src/test/java/org/hibernate/test/cache/infinispan/access/PutFromLoadValidatorUnitTestCase.java b/hibernate-infinispan/src/test/java/org/hibernate/test/cache/infinispan/access/PutFromLoadValidatorUnitTestCase.java
index 902f7fa567..b38ffb88e8 100644
--- a/hibernate-infinispan/src/test/java/org/hibernate/test/cache/infinispan/access/PutFromLoadValidatorUnitTestCase.java
+++ b/hibernate-infinispan/src/test/java/org/hibernate/test/cache/infinispan/access/PutFromLoadValidatorUnitTestCase.java
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ package org.hibernate.test.cache.infinispan.access;
 
 import javax.transaction.TransactionManager;
 
+import java.lang.reflect.Method;
+import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
 import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
@@ -23,6 +25,8 @@ import org.hibernate.cache.infinispan.access.PutFromLoadValidator;
 import org.hibernate.engine.spi.SessionImplementor;
 import org.hibernate.test.cache.infinispan.functional.cluster.DualNodeJtaTransactionManagerImpl;
 import org.hibernate.test.cache.infinispan.util.InfinispanTestingSetup;
+import org.hibernate.testing.TestForIssue;
+import org.infinispan.configuration.cache.ConfigurationBuilder;
 import org.infinispan.manager.EmbeddedCacheManager;
 import org.infinispan.test.CacheManagerCallable;
 import org.infinispan.test.fwk.TestCacheManagerFactory;
@@ -35,12 +39,8 @@ import org.junit.Test;
 
 import static org.infinispan.test.TestingUtil.withCacheManager;
 import static org.infinispan.test.TestingUtil.withTx;
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
-import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 
 /**
  * Tests of {@link PutFromLoadValidator}.
@@ -508,4 +508,58 @@ public class PutFromLoadValidatorUnitTestCase {
          return null;
       }
    }
+
+   @Test
+   @TestForIssue(jiraKey = "HHH-9928")
+   public void testGetForNullReleasePuts() {
+      EmbeddedCacheManager cm = TestCacheManagerFactory.createCacheManager(false);
+      ConfigurationBuilder cb = new ConfigurationBuilder().read(InfinispanRegionFactory.PENDING_PUTS_CACHE_CONFIGURATION);
+      cb.expiration().maxIdle(500);
+      cm.defineConfiguration(InfinispanRegionFactory.PENDING_PUTS_CACHE_NAME, cb.build());
+      withCacheManager(new CacheManagerCallable(cm) {
+         @Override
+         public void call() {
+            PutFromLoadValidator testee = new PutFromLoadValidator(cm.getCache().getAdvancedCache(), cm);
+            long lastInsert = Long.MAX_VALUE;
+            for (int i = 0; i < 100; ++i) {
+               lastInsert = System.currentTimeMillis();
+               try {
+                  withTx(tm, new Callable<Object>() {
+                     @Override
+                     public Object call() throws Exception {
+                        SessionImplementor session = mock (SessionImplementor.class);
+                        testee.registerPendingPut(session, KEY1, 0);
+                        return null;
+                     }
+                  });
+                  Thread.sleep(10);
+               } catch (Exception e) {
+                  throw new RuntimeException(e);
+               }
+            }
+            String ppName = cm.getCache().getName() + "-" + InfinispanRegionFactory.PENDING_PUTS_CACHE_NAME;
+            Map ppCache = cm.getCache(ppName, false);
+            assertNotNull(ppCache);
+            Object pendingPutMap = ppCache.get(KEY1);
+            long end = System.currentTimeMillis();
+            if (end - lastInsert > 500) {
+               log.warn("Test took too long");
+               return;
+            }
+            assertNotNull(pendingPutMap);
+            int size;
+            try {
+               Method sizeMethod = pendingPutMap.getClass().getMethod("size");
+               sizeMethod.setAccessible(true);
+               size = (Integer) sizeMethod.invoke(pendingPutMap);
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+               throw new RuntimeException(e);
+            }
+            // some of the pending puts need to be expired by now
+            assertTrue(size < 100);
+            // but some are still registered
+            assertTrue(size > 0);
+         }
+      });
+   }
 }