diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index 5c5088f20c..3ef539382b 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ akka.cluster.sharding {
   state-store-mode = "ddata"
 
   # The shard saves persistent snapshots after this number of persistent
-  # events. Snapshots are used to reduce recovery times.
+  # events. Snapshots are used to reduce recovery times. A snapshot trigger might be delayed if a batch of updates is processed.
   # Only used when state-store-mode=persistence
   snapshot-after = 1000
 
@@ -95,7 +95,8 @@ akka.cluster.sharding {
   # keeping this number of old persistent batches.
   # Batch is of size `snapshot-after`.
   # When set to 0 after snapshot is successfully done all events with equal or lower sequence number will be deleted.
-  # Default value of 2 leaves last maximum 2*`snapshot-after` events and 3 snapshots (2 old ones + latest snapshot)
+  # Default value of 2 leaves last maximum 2*`snapshot-after` events and 3 snapshots (2 old ones + latest snapshot).
+  # If larger than 0, one additional batch of journal messages is kept when state-store-mode=persistence to include messages from delayed snapshots.
   keep-nr-of-batches = 2
 
   # Settings for LeastShardAllocationStrategy.
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/internal/EventSourcedRememberEntitiesShardStore.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/internal/EventSourcedRememberEntitiesShardStore.scala
index 445fad6b15..6715edb8e3 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/internal/EventSourcedRememberEntitiesShardStore.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/internal/EventSourcedRememberEntitiesShardStore.scala
@@ -96,13 +96,17 @@ private[akka] final class EventSourcedRememberEntitiesShardStore(
         (if (started.nonEmpty) EntitiesStarted(started) :: Nil else Nil) :::
         (if (stopped.nonEmpty) EntitiesStopped(stopped) :: Nil else Nil)
       var left = events.size
+      var saveSnap = false
       def persistEventsAndHandleComplete(evts: List[StateChange]): Unit = {
         persistAll(evts) { _ =>
           left -= 1
+          saveSnap = saveSnap || isSnapshotNeeded
           if (left == 0) {
             sender() ! RememberEntitiesShardStore.UpdateDone(started, stopped)
             state = state.copy(state.entities.union(started).diff(stopped))
-            saveSnapshotWhenNeeded()
+            if (saveSnap) {
+              saveSnapshot()
+            }
           }
         }
       }
@@ -126,7 +130,9 @@ private[akka] final class EventSourcedRememberEntitiesShardStore(
 
     case DeleteMessagesSuccess(toSequenceNr) =>
       val deleteTo = toSequenceNr - 1
-      val deleteFrom = math.max(0, deleteTo - (keepNrOfBatches * snapshotAfter))
+      // keeping one additional batch of messages in case snapshotAfter has been delayed to the end of a processed batch
+      val keepNrOfBatchesWithSafetyBatch = if (keepNrOfBatches == 0) 0 else keepNrOfBatches + 1
+      val deleteFrom = math.max(0, deleteTo - (keepNrOfBatchesWithSafetyBatch * snapshotAfter))
       log.debug(
         "Messages to [{}] deleted successfully. Deleting snapshots from [{}] to [{}]",
         toSequenceNr,
@@ -151,10 +157,17 @@ private[akka] final class EventSourcedRememberEntitiesShardStore(
   }
 
   def saveSnapshotWhenNeeded(): Unit = {
-    if (lastSequenceNr % snapshotAfter == 0 && lastSequenceNr != 0) {
-      log.debug("Saving snapshot, sequence number [{}]", snapshotSequenceNr)
-      saveSnapshot(state)
+    if (isSnapshotNeeded) {
+      saveSnapshot()
     }
   }
 
+  private def saveSnapshot(): Unit = {
+    log.debug("Saving snapshot, sequence number [{}]", snapshotSequenceNr)
+    saveSnapshot(state)
+  }
+
+  private def isSnapshotNeeded = {
+    lastSequenceNr % snapshotAfter == 0 && lastSequenceNr != 0
+  }
 }