diff --git a/publish/acker.go b/beater/acker.go
similarity index 94%
rename from publish/acker.go
rename to beater/acker.go
index 08a0c226733..8ddc5feb596 100644
--- a/publish/acker.go
+++ b/beater/acker.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 // specific language governing permissions and limitations
 // under the License.
 
-package publish
+package beater
 
 import (
 	"context"
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ import (
 // events published. waitPublishedAcker provides an interruptible Wait method
 // that blocks until all events published at the time the client is closed are
 // acknowledged.
+//
+// TODO(axw) move this to libbeat/common/acker.
 type waitPublishedAcker struct {
 	active int64 // atomic
 
@@ -37,6 +39,7 @@ type waitPublishedAcker struct {
 	done   chan struct{}
 }
 
+// newWaitPublishedAcker returns a new waitPublishedAcker.
 func newWaitPublishedAcker() *waitPublishedAcker {
 	return &waitPublishedAcker{done: make(chan struct{})}
 }
diff --git a/beater/beater.go b/beater/beater.go
index 4952cfa266e..c4e721f910b 100644
--- a/beater/beater.go
+++ b/beater/beater.go
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/elastic/beats/v7/libbeat/instrumentation"
 	"github.com/elastic/beats/v7/libbeat/logp"
 	esoutput "github.com/elastic/beats/v7/libbeat/outputs/elasticsearch"
+	"github.com/elastic/beats/v7/libbeat/publisher/pipetool"
 
 	"github.com/elastic/apm-server/beater/config"
 	"github.com/elastic/apm-server/elasticsearch"
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ func NewCreator(args CreatorParams) beat.Creator {
 			stopped:       false,
 			logger:        logger,
 			wrapRunServer: args.WrapRunServer,
+			waitPublished: newWaitPublishedAcker(),
 		}
 
 		esOutputCfg := elasticsearchOutputConfig(b)
@@ -103,6 +105,7 @@ type beater struct {
 	logger        *logp.Logger
 	namespace     string
 	wrapRunServer func(RunServerFunc) RunServerFunc
+	waitPublished *waitPublishedAcker
 
 	mutex      sync.Mutex // guards stopServer and stopped
 	stopServer func()
@@ -173,7 +176,7 @@ func (bt *beater) Run(b *beat.Beat) error {
 		runServer = bt.wrapRunServer(runServer)
 	}
 
-	publisher, err := newPublisher(b, bt.config, bt.namespace, tracer)
+	publisher, err := bt.newPublisher(b, tracer)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -187,6 +190,7 @@ func (bt *beater) Run(b *beat.Beat) error {
 			defer cancelShutdownContext()
 		}
 		publisher.Stop(shutdownContext)
+		bt.waitPublished.Wait(shutdownContext)
 	}()
 
 	reporter := publisher.Send
@@ -396,18 +400,19 @@ func runServerWithTracerServer(runServer RunServerFunc, tracerServer *tracerServ
 	}
 }
 
-func newPublisher(b *beat.Beat, cfg *config.Config, namespace string, tracer *apm.Tracer) (*publish.Publisher, error) {
-	transformConfig, err := newTransformConfig(b.Info, cfg)
+func (bt *beater) newPublisher(b *beat.Beat, tracer *apm.Tracer) (*publish.Publisher, error) {
+	transformConfig, err := newTransformConfig(b.Info, bt.config)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	publisherConfig := &publish.PublisherConfig{
 		Info:            b.Info,
-		Pipeline:        cfg.Pipeline,
-		Namespace:       namespace,
+		Pipeline:        bt.config.Pipeline,
+		Namespace:       bt.namespace,
 		TransformConfig: transformConfig,
 	}
-	return publish.NewPublisher(b.Publisher, tracer, publisherConfig)
+	pipeline := pipetool.WithACKer(b.Publisher, bt.waitPublished)
+	return publish.NewPublisher(pipeline, tracer, publisherConfig)
 }
 
 func newTransformConfig(beatInfo beat.Info, cfg *config.Config) (*transform.Config, error) {
diff --git a/publish/pub.go b/publish/pub.go
index 84733ad3031..a44f4034c46 100644
--- a/publish/pub.go
+++ b/publish/pub.go
@@ -34,18 +34,19 @@ import (
 
 type Reporter func(context.Context, PendingReq) error
 
-// Publisher forwards batches of events to libbeat. It uses GuaranteedSend
-// to enable infinite retry of events being processed.
+// Publisher forwards batches of events to libbeat.
+//
 // If the publisher's input channel is full, an error is returned immediately.
-// Number of concurrent requests waiting for processing do depend on the configured
-// queue size. As the publisher is not waiting for the outputs ACK, the total
-// number requests(events) active in the system can exceed the queue size. Only
-// the number of concurrent HTTP requests trying to publish at the same time is limited.
+// Publisher uses GuaranteedSend to enable infinite retry of events being processed.
+//
+// The number of concurrent requests waiting for processing depends on the configured
+// queue size in libbeat. As the publisher is not waiting for the outputs ACK, the total
+// number of events active in the system can exceed the queue size. Only the number of
+// concurrent HTTP requests trying to publish at the same time is limited.
 type Publisher struct {
 	stopped         chan struct{}
 	tracer          *apm.Tracer
 	client          beat.Client
-	waitPublished   *waitPublishedAcker
 	transformConfig *transform.Config
 
 	mu              sync.RWMutex
@@ -80,8 +81,9 @@ var (
 )
 
 // newPublisher creates a new publisher instance.
-//MaxCPU new go-routines are started for forwarding events to libbeat.
-//Stop must be called to close the beat.Client and free resources.
+//
+// GOMAXPROCS goroutines are started for forwarding events to libbeat.
+// Stop must be called to close the beat.Client and free resources.
 func NewPublisher(pipeline beat.Pipeline, tracer *apm.Tracer, cfg *PublisherConfig) (*Publisher, error) {
 	if err := cfg.Validate(); err != nil {
 		return nil, errors.Wrap(err, "invalid config")
@@ -110,7 +112,6 @@ func NewPublisher(pipeline beat.Pipeline, tracer *apm.Tracer, cfg *PublisherConf
 	p := &Publisher{
 		tracer:          tracer,
 		stopped:         make(chan struct{}),
-		waitPublished:   newWaitPublishedAcker(),
 		transformConfig: cfg.TransformConfig,
 
 		// One request will be actively processed by the
@@ -121,7 +122,6 @@ func NewPublisher(pipeline beat.Pipeline, tracer *apm.Tracer, cfg *PublisherConf
 	client, err := pipeline.ConnectWith(beat.ClientConfig{
 		PublishMode: beat.GuaranteedSend,
 		Processing:  processingCfg,
-		ACKHandler:  p.waitPublished,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -149,7 +149,9 @@ func NewPublisher(pipeline beat.Pipeline, tracer *apm.Tracer, cfg *PublisherConf
 // indefinitely.
 //
 // The worker will drain the queue on shutdown, but no more requests will be
-// published after Stop returns.
+// published after Stop returns. Events may still exist in the libbeat pipeline
+// after Stop returns; the caller is responsible for installing an ACKer as
+// necessary.
 func (p *Publisher) Stop(ctx context.Context) error {
 	// Prevent additional requests from being enqueued.
 	p.mu.Lock()
@@ -163,16 +165,12 @@ func (p *Publisher) Stop(ctx context.Context) error {
 	// important here:
 	//   (1) wait for pendingRequests to be drained and published (p.stopped)
 	//   (2) close the beat.Client to prevent more events being published
-	//   (3) wait for published events to be acknowledged
 	select {
 	case <-ctx.Done():
 		return ctx.Err()
 	case <-p.stopped:
 	}
-	if err := p.client.Close(); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	return p.waitPublished.Wait(ctx)
+	return p.client.Close()
 }
 
 // Send tries to forward pendingReq to the publishers worker. If the queue is full,