diff --git a/src/connection.cpp b/src/connection.cpp
index 4400298..2004357 100644
--- a/src/connection.cpp
+++ b/src/connection.cpp
@@ -98,13 +98,22 @@ void Connection::append_bytes(std::span<std::string_view> data_parts,
 
   std::unique_lock lock(mutex_);
 
+  // Prevent queueing messages after close has been requested
+  if (close_requested_) {
+    return;
+  }
+
   // Check if queue was empty to determine if we need to enable EPOLLOUT
   bool was_empty = message_queue_.empty();
 
+  // Set close_requested flag if this message requests close
+  if (close_after_send) {
+    close_requested_ = true;
+  }
+
   // Add message to queue
   // TODO this allocates while holding the connection lock
-  message_queue_.emplace_back(
-      Message{std::move(arena), data_parts, close_after_send});
+  message_queue_.emplace_back(Message{std::move(arena), data_parts});
   outgoing_bytes_queued_ += total_bytes;
 
   // If queue was empty, we need to add EPOLLOUT interest.
@@ -128,6 +137,11 @@ void Connection::send_response(void *protocol_context,
                                std::string_view response_json, Arena arena) {
   std::unique_lock lock(mutex_);
 
+  // Prevent queueing responses after close has been requested
+  if (close_requested_) {
+    return;
+  }
+
   // Store response in queue for protocol handler processing
   pending_response_queue_.emplace_back(
       PendingResponse{protocol_context, response_json, std::move(arena)});
@@ -206,10 +220,6 @@ uint32_t Connection::write_bytes() {
               part.size()};
           iov_count++;
         }
-
-        if (message.close_after_send) {
-          break;
-        }
       }
 
       if (iov_count == 0)
@@ -272,9 +282,6 @@ uint32_t Connection::write_bytes() {
           }
         }
 
-        if (front_message.close_after_send) {
-          result |= Close;
-        }
         // Move arena to thread-local vector for deferred cleanup
         g_arenas_to_free.emplace_back(std::move(front_message.arena));
         message_queue_.pop_front();
@@ -300,6 +307,9 @@ uint32_t Connection::write_bytes() {
         // sets it and we would hang.
         epoll_ctl(server->epoll_fds_[epoll_index_], EPOLL_CTL_MOD, fd_, &event);
       }
+      if (close_requested_) {
+        result |= Close;
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/src/connection.hpp b/src/connection.hpp
index 3fb9308..d57acbd 100644
--- a/src/connection.hpp
+++ b/src/connection.hpp
@@ -109,11 +109,15 @@ struct Connection : MessageSender {
    *
    * @param data_parts Span of string_views pointing to arena-allocated data
    * @param arena Arena that owns all the memory referenced by data_parts
-   * @param close_after_send Whether to close connection after sending
+   * @param close_after_send Whether to close connection after sending all
+   * queued data
    *
    * @note Thread Safety: Must be called from I/O thread only.
    * @note Ordering: Bytes are sent in the order calls are made.
    * @note The memory referenced by the data_parts span, must outlive @p arena.
+   * @note Close Request: To request connection close without sending data,
+   *       pass empty data_parts span with close_after_send=true. This ensures
+   *       all previously queued messages are sent before closing.
    *
    * Example usage (from ConnectionHandler::on_preprocess_writes):
    * ```cpp
@@ -289,7 +293,6 @@ private:
     Arena arena;                            // Owns all the memory (movable)
     std::span<std::string_view> data_parts; // Points to arena-allocated memory
                                             // (mutable for partial writes)
-    bool close_after_send = false;          // Close connection after sending
   };
 
   // Server is a friend and can access all networking internals
@@ -343,7 +346,8 @@ private:
                       // dropped while server accesses existing elements.
   int64_t outgoing_bytes_queued_{0}; // Counter of queued bytes
   std::deque<PendingResponse>
-      pending_response_queue_; // Responses awaiting protocol processing
+      pending_response_queue_;  // Responses awaiting protocol processing
+  bool close_requested_{false}; // True if close_after_send has been requested
   // Set to a negative number in `close`
   int fd_;