diff --git a/services/document-updater/app/coffee/RedisManager.coffee b/services/document-updater/app/coffee/RedisManager.coffee
index 1490ac87f4..63086320d7 100644
--- a/services/document-updater/app/coffee/RedisManager.coffee
+++ b/services/document-updater/app/coffee/RedisManager.coffee
@@ -295,8 +295,9 @@ module.exports = RedisManager =
 		multi.exec callback
 
 	queueFlushAndDeleteProject: (project_id, callback) ->
-		# store the project id in a sorted set ordered by time
-		rclient.zadd keys.flushAndDeleteQueue(), Date.now(), project_id, callback
+		# store the project id in a sorted set ordered by time with a random offset to smooth out spikes
+		SMOOTHING_OFFSET = if Settings.smoothingOffset > 0 then Math.round(Settings.smoothingOffset * Math.random()) else 0
+		rclient.zadd keys.flushAndDeleteQueue(), Date.now() + SMOOTHING_OFFSET, project_id, callback
 
 	getNextProjectToFlushAndDelete: (cutoffTime, callback = (error, key, timestamp)->) ->
 		# find the oldest queued flush that is before the cutoff time
diff --git a/services/document-updater/config/settings.defaults.coffee b/services/document-updater/config/settings.defaults.coffee
index 327bf98ee4..2b070e562c 100755
--- a/services/document-updater/config/settings.defaults.coffee
+++ b/services/document-updater/config/settings.defaults.coffee
@@ -97,3 +97,5 @@ module.exports =
 	publishOnIndividualChannels: process.env['PUBLISH_ON_INDIVIDUAL_CHANNELS'] or false
 
 	continuousBackgroundFlush: process.env['CONTINUOUS_BACKGROUND_FLUSH'] or false
+
+	smoothingOffset: process.env['SMOOTHING_OFFSET'] or 1000 # milliseconds
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/services/document-updater/test/acceptance/coffee/DeletingAProjectTests.coffee b/services/document-updater/test/acceptance/coffee/DeletingAProjectTests.coffee
index 91e4378dc2..6c1f7fe8ed 100644
--- a/services/document-updater/test/acceptance/coffee/DeletingAProjectTests.coffee
+++ b/services/document-updater/test/acceptance/coffee/DeletingAProjectTests.coffee
@@ -147,9 +147,8 @@ describe "Deleting a project", ->
 						@statusCode = res.statusCode
 						# after deleting the project and putting it in the queue, flush the queue
 						setTimeout () ->
-							DocUpdaterClient.flushOldProjects (error, res, body) =>
-							setTimeout done, 1000 # allow time for the flush to complete
-						, 100
+							DocUpdaterClient.flushOldProjects done
+						, 2000
 				, 200
 
 		after ->