diff --git a/src/hydra-queue-runner/build-remote.cc b/src/hydra-queue-runner/build-remote.cc
index bbac00f6..e28ca795 100644
--- a/src/hydra-queue-runner/build-remote.cc
+++ b/src/hydra-queue-runner/build-remote.cc
@@ -424,6 +424,7 @@ private:
 };
 
 void State::buildRemote(ref<Store> destStore,
+    MachineReservation::ptr & reservation,
     ::Machine::ptr machine, Step::ptr step,
     const ServeProto::BuildOptions & buildOptions,
     RemoteResult & result, std::shared_ptr<ActiveStep> activeStep,
@@ -569,6 +570,15 @@ void State::buildRemote(ref<Store> destStore,
         }
         SemaphoreReleaser releaser(&localWorkThrottler);
 
+        /* Once we've started copying outputs, release the machine reservation
+         * so further builds can happen. We do not release the machine earlier
+         * to avoid situations where the queue runner is bottlenecked on
+         * copying outputs and we end up building too many things that we
+         * haven't been able to allow copy slots for. */
+        assert(reservation.unique());
+        reservation = 0;
+        wakeDispatcher();
+
         StorePathSet outputs;
         for (auto & [_, realisation] : buildResult.builtOutputs)
             outputs.insert(realisation.outPath);
diff --git a/src/hydra-queue-runner/builder.cc b/src/hydra-queue-runner/builder.cc
index 5269febd..fade0fd5 100644
--- a/src/hydra-queue-runner/builder.cc
+++ b/src/hydra-queue-runner/builder.cc
@@ -46,10 +46,12 @@ void State::builder(MachineReservation::ptr reservation)
         }
     }
 
-    /* Release the machine and wake up the dispatcher. */
-    assert(reservation.unique());
-    reservation = 0;
-    wakeDispatcher();
+    /* If the machine hasn't been released yet, release and wake up the dispatcher. */
+    if (reservation) {
+        assert(reservation.unique());
+        reservation = 0;
+        wakeDispatcher();
+    }
 
     /* If there was a temporary failure, retry the step after an
        exponentially increasing interval. */
@@ -72,11 +74,11 @@ void State::builder(MachineReservation::ptr reservation)
 
 
 State::StepResult State::doBuildStep(nix::ref<Store> destStore,
-    MachineReservation::ptr reservation,
+    MachineReservation::ptr & reservation,
     std::shared_ptr<ActiveStep> activeStep)
 {
-    auto & step(reservation->step);
-    auto & machine(reservation->machine);
+    auto step(reservation->step);
+    auto machine(reservation->machine);
 
     {
         auto step_(step->state.lock());
@@ -211,7 +213,7 @@ State::StepResult State::doBuildStep(nix::ref<Store> destStore,
 
         try {
             /* FIXME: referring builds may have conflicting timeouts. */
-            buildRemote(destStore, machine, step, buildOptions, result, activeStep, updateStep, narMembers);
+            buildRemote(destStore, reservation, machine, step, buildOptions, result, activeStep, updateStep, narMembers);
         } catch (Error & e) {
             if (activeStep->state_.lock()->cancelled) {
                 printInfo("marking step %d of build %d as cancelled", stepNr, buildId);
diff --git a/src/hydra-queue-runner/state.hh b/src/hydra-queue-runner/state.hh
index 81ba4a00..deee781d 100644
--- a/src/hydra-queue-runner/state.hh
+++ b/src/hydra-queue-runner/state.hh
@@ -562,10 +562,11 @@ private:
        retried. */
     enum StepResult { sDone, sRetry, sMaybeCancelled };
     StepResult doBuildStep(nix::ref<nix::Store> destStore,
-        MachineReservation::ptr reservation,
+        MachineReservation::ptr & reservation,
         std::shared_ptr<ActiveStep> activeStep);
 
     void buildRemote(nix::ref<nix::Store> destStore,
+        MachineReservation::ptr & reservation,
         Machine::ptr machine, Step::ptr step,
         const nix::ServeProto::BuildOptions & buildOptions,
         RemoteResult & result, std::shared_ptr<ActiveStep> activeStep,