diff --git a/src/api.rs b/src/api.rs
index e638fba..9aa3f60 100644
--- a/src/api.rs
+++ b/src/api.rs
@@ -1012,6 +1012,7 @@ mod tests {
             socket,
             zone_map: std::collections::HashMap::new(),
             cache: RwLock::new(crate::cache::DnsCache::new(100, 60, 86400)),
+            refreshing: Mutex::new(std::collections::HashSet::new()),
             stats: Mutex::new(crate::stats::ServerStats::new()),
             overrides: RwLock::new(crate::override_store::OverrideStore::new()),
             blocklist: RwLock::new(crate::blocklist::BlocklistStore::new()),
diff --git a/src/ctx.rs b/src/ctx.rs
index c1f28f2..8632a28 100644
--- a/src/ctx.rs
+++ b/src/ctx.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
 use std::net::SocketAddr;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex, RwLock};
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ pub struct ServerCtx {
     pub zone_map: ZoneMap,
     /// std::sync::RwLock (not tokio) — locks must never be held across .await points.
     pub cache: RwLock<DnsCache>,
+    /// Domains currently being refreshed in the background (dedup guard).
+    pub refreshing: Mutex<HashSet<(String, QueryType)>>,
     pub stats: Mutex<ServerStats>,
     pub overrides: RwLock<OverrideStore>,
     pub blocklist: RwLock<BlocklistStore>,
@@ -168,9 +170,15 @@ pub async fn resolve_query(
             let cached = ctx.cache.read().unwrap().lookup_with_status(&qname, qtype);
             if let Some((cached, cached_dnssec, stale)) = cached {
                 if stale {
-                    let ctx = Arc::clone(ctx);
-                    let qname = qname.clone();
-                    tokio::spawn(async move { warm_stale(&ctx, &qname, qtype).await });
+                    let key = (qname.clone(), qtype);
+                    let already = !ctx.refreshing.lock().unwrap().insert(key.clone());
+                    if !already {
+                        let ctx = Arc::clone(ctx);
+                        tokio::spawn(async move {
+                            warm_stale(&ctx, &key.0, key.1).await;
+                            ctx.refreshing.lock().unwrap().remove(&key);
+                        });
+                    }
                 }
                 let mut resp = cached;
                 resp.header.id = query.header.id;
diff --git a/src/dot.rs b/src/dot.rs
index be22375..0216dbf 100644
--- a/src/dot.rs
+++ b/src/dot.rs
@@ -357,6 +357,7 @@ mod tests {
                 m
             },
             cache: RwLock::new(crate::cache::DnsCache::new(100, 60, 86400)),
+            refreshing: Mutex::new(std::collections::HashSet::new()),
             stats: Mutex::new(crate::stats::ServerStats::new()),
             overrides: RwLock::new(crate::override_store::OverrideStore::new()),
             blocklist: RwLock::new(crate::blocklist::BlocklistStore::new()),
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index ebc16cc..9aa3f17 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -285,6 +285,7 @@ async fn main() -> numa::Result<()> {
             config.cache.min_ttl,
             config.cache.max_ttl,
         )),
+        refreshing: Mutex::new(std::collections::HashSet::new()),
         stats: Mutex::new(ServerStats::new()),
         overrides: RwLock::new(OverrideStore::new()),
         blocklist: RwLock::new(blocklist),