diff --git a/test/tracer.spec.ts b/test/tracer.spec.ts
index 6a315176..26500ea1 100644
--- a/test/tracer.spec.ts
+++ b/test/tracer.spec.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ describe('IWantTracer', () => {
   it('should track broken promises', async function () {
     // tests that unfullfilled promises are tracked correctly
     this.timeout(6000)
-    const t = new IWantTracer(null)
+    const t = new IWantTracer(constants.GossipsubIWantFollowupTime, null)
     const peerA = 'A'
     const peerB = 'B'
 
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ describe('IWantTracer', () => {
   it('should track unbroken promises', async function () {
     // like above, but this time we deliver messages to fullfil the promises
     this.timeout(6000)
-    const t = new IWantTracer(null)
+    const t = new IWantTracer(constants.GossipsubIWantFollowupTime, null)
     const peerA = 'A'
     const peerB = 'B'
 
diff --git a/ts/index.ts b/ts/index.ts
index bb7f0971..784e70c4 100644
--- a/ts/index.ts
+++ b/ts/index.ts
@@ -120,6 +120,8 @@ export type GossipsubOpts = GossipsubOptsSpec & {
   scoreParams: Partial<PeerScoreParams>
   /** peer score thresholds */
   scoreThresholds: Partial<PeerScoreThresholds>
+  /** customize GossipsubIWantFollowupTime in order not to apply IWANT penalties */
+  gossipsubIWantFollowupTime: number
 
   dataTransform?: DataTransform
   metricsRegister?: MetricsRegister | null
@@ -330,6 +332,7 @@ export default class Gossipsub extends EventEmitter {
       mcacheLength: constants.GossipsubHistoryLength,
       mcacheGossip: constants.GossipsubHistoryGossip,
       seenTTL: constants.GossipsubSeenTTL,
+      gossipsubIWantFollowupTime: constants.GossipsubIWantFollowupTime,
       ...options,
       scoreParams: createPeerScoreParams(options.scoreParams),
       scoreThresholds: createPeerScoreThresholds(options.scoreThresholds)
@@ -414,7 +417,7 @@ export default class Gossipsub extends EventEmitter {
       this.metrics = null
     }
 
-    this.gossipTracer = new IWantTracer(this.metrics)
+    this.gossipTracer = new IWantTracer(this.opts.gossipsubIWantFollowupTime, this.metrics)
 
     /**
      * libp2p
diff --git a/ts/tracer.ts b/ts/tracer.ts
index bddb9450..5848b309 100644
--- a/ts/tracer.ts
+++ b/ts/tracer.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import { GossipsubIWantFollowupTime } from './constants'
 import { messageIdToString } from './utils'
 import { MsgIdStr, PeerIdStr, RejectReason } from './types'
 import { Metrics } from './metrics'
@@ -22,10 +21,11 @@ export class IWantTracer {
    * Necessary to know if peers are actually breaking promises or simply sending them a bit later
    */
   private readonly requestMsByMsg = new Map<MsgIdStr, number>()
-  private readonly requestMsByMsgExpire = 10 * GossipsubIWantFollowupTime
+  private readonly requestMsByMsgExpire: number
 
-  // eslint-disable-next-line no-useless-constructor
-  constructor(private readonly metrics: Metrics | null) {}
+  constructor(private readonly gossipsubIWantFollowupTime: number, private readonly metrics: Metrics | null) {
+    this.requestMsByMsgExpire = 10 * gossipsubIWantFollowupTime
+  }
 
   get size(): number {
     return this.promises.size
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ export class IWantTracer {
 
     // If a promise for this message id and peer already exists we don't update the expiry
     if (!expireByPeer.has(from)) {
-      expireByPeer.set(from, now + GossipsubIWantFollowupTime)
+      expireByPeer.set(from, now + this.gossipsubIWantFollowupTime)
 
       if (this.metrics) {
         this.metrics.iwantPromiseStarted.inc(1)