diff --git a/plugin/action/throttle/in_memory_limiter.go b/plugin/action/throttle/in_memory_limiter.go
index c64df86d3..dc7fde458 100644
--- a/plugin/action/throttle/in_memory_limiter.go
+++ b/plugin/action/throttle/in_memory_limiter.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package throttle
 
 import (
 	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/ozontech/file.d/logger"
@@ -39,6 +40,11 @@ func (l *inMemoryLimiter) sync() {
 }
 
 func (l *inMemoryLimiter) isAllowed(event *pipeline.Event, ts time.Time) bool {
+	// limit value fast check without races
+	if atomic.LoadInt64(&l.limit.value) < 0 {
+		return true
+	}
+
 	l.mu.Lock()
 	defer l.mu.Unlock()
 
diff --git a/plugin/action/throttle/redis_limiter.go b/plugin/action/throttle/redis_limiter.go
index 2439cc8ab..fbf44451d 100644
--- a/plugin/action/throttle/redis_limiter.go
+++ b/plugin/action/throttle/redis_limiter.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/ozontech/file.d/logger"
@@ -244,8 +245,9 @@ func (l *redisLimiter) updateKeyLimit() error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to convert redis value to int64: %w", err)
 		}
 	}
-	l.totalLimiter.limit.value = limitVal
-	l.incrementLimiter.limit.value = limitVal
+	// atomic store to prevent races with limit value fast check
+	atomic.StoreInt64(&l.totalLimiter.limit.value, limitVal)
+	atomic.StoreInt64(&l.incrementLimiter.limit.value, limitVal)
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/plugin/action/throttle/throttle_test.go b/plugin/action/throttle/throttle_test.go
index 94e10568a..b13c857fa 100644
--- a/plugin/action/throttle/throttle_test.go
+++ b/plugin/action/throttle/throttle_test.go
@@ -43,9 +43,14 @@ func (c *testConfig) runPipeline() {
 
 	limMap := limiters[p.Name]
 
-	outEvents := make([]*pipeline.Event, 0)
+	inEventsCnt := 0
+	input.SetInFn(func() {
+		inEventsCnt++
+	})
+
+	outEventsCnt := 0
 	output.SetOutFn(func(e *pipeline.Event) {
-		outEvents = append(outEvents, e)
+		outEventsCnt++
 	})
 
 	sourceNames := []string{
@@ -55,12 +60,15 @@ func (c *testConfig) runPipeline() {
 	}
 
 	// generating much more events per iteration than we need so that all buckets are filled
-	genEventsCnt := 10 * c.eventsTotal
+	genEventsCnt := 10
+	if c.eventsTotal >= 0 {
+		genEventsCnt = 10 * c.eventsTotal
+	}
 
 	bucketIntervalNS := c.config.BucketInterval_.Nanoseconds()
 	startTime := time.Now()
 	if startTime.UnixNano()%bucketIntervalNS > bucketIntervalNS/2 {
-		startTime.Add(c.config.BucketInterval_ / 2)
+		startTime = startTime.Add(c.config.BucketInterval_ / 2)
 	}
 	for i := 0; i < c.iterations; i++ {
 		curTime := startTime.Add(time.Duration(i) * c.config.BucketInterval_)
@@ -81,7 +89,11 @@ func (c *testConfig) runPipeline() {
 	p.Stop()
 
 	// check that we passed expected amount of events
-	assert.Equal(c.t, c.eventsTotal, len(outEvents), "wrong out events count")
+	if c.eventsTotal >= 0 {
+		assert.Equal(c.t, c.eventsTotal, outEventsCnt, "wrong out events count")
+	} else {
+		assert.Equal(c.t, inEventsCnt, outEventsCnt, "wrong out events count")
+	}
 }
 
 func TestThrottle(t *testing.T) {
@@ -118,6 +130,39 @@ func TestThrottle(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestThrottleNoLimit(t *testing.T) {
+	buckets := 2
+	limitA := -2
+	limitB := -3
+	defaultLimit := -20
+
+	iterations := 5
+
+	eventsTotal := -1
+
+	config := &Config{
+		Rules: []RuleConfig{
+			{Limit: int64(limitA), Conditions: map[string]string{"k8s_ns": "ns_1"}},
+			{Limit: int64(limitB), Conditions: map[string]string{"k8s_ns": "ns_2"}},
+		},
+		BucketsCount:   buckets,
+		BucketInterval: "100ms",
+		ThrottleField:  "k8s_pod",
+		TimeField:      "",
+		DefaultLimit:   int64(defaultLimit),
+	}
+	err := cfg.Parse(config, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		logger.Panic(err.Error())
+	}
+
+	tconf := testConfig{t, config, eventsTotal, iterations}
+	tconf.runPipeline()
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		throttleMapsCleanup()
+	})
+}
+
 func TestSizeThrottle(t *testing.T) {
 	buckets := 4
 	sizeFraction := 100