diff --git a/changelog.d/0-release-notes/elasticmq b/changelog.d/0-release-notes/elasticmq
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3ce140d0c4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/0-release-notes/elasticmq
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+* Replace fake-sqs with ElasticMQ
+
+ElasticMQ is an actively maintained project, fake-sqs hasn't seen a commit since
+2018. This is not expected to have any noticeable effect on deployments that
+don't have any extra configurations for the SQS queues. If the fake-aws-sqs
+chart had configured custom queue names, they have couple of extra limitations:
+- The queue names must only contain alphanumeric characters and hyphens.
+- The FIFO queue names must end in `.fifo`.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/charts/fake-aws-sqs/templates/configmap.yaml b/charts/fake-aws-sqs/templates/configmap.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..baac9d15bca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/charts/fake-aws-sqs/templates/configmap.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: {{ template "fullname" . }}
+  labels:
+    app: {{ template "fullname" . }}
+    chart: "{{ .Chart.Name }}-{{ .Chart.Version }}"
+    release: "{{ .Release.Name }}"
+    heritage: "{{ .Release.Service }}"
+data:
+  elasticmq.conf: |
+    include classpath("application.conf")
+
+    # What is the outside visible address of this ElasticMQ node
+    # Used to create the queue URL (may be different from bind address!)
+    node-address {
+      protocol = http
+      host = localhost
+      port = {{ .Values.service.httpPort }}
+      context-path = ""
+    }
+
+    rest-sqs {
+      enabled = true
+      bind-port = {{ .Values.service.httpPort }}
+      bind-hostname = "0.0.0.0"
+      # Possible values: relaxed, strict
+      sqs-limits = strict
+    }
+
+    rest-stats {
+      enabled = true
+      bind-port = 9325
+      bind-hostname = "0.0.0.0"
+    }
+
+    # Should the node-address be generated from the bind port/hostname
+    # Set this to true e.g. when assigning port automatically by using port 0.
+    generate-node-address = false
+
+    queues {
+    {{- range $i, $queueName := .Values.queueNames }}
+      "{{ $queueName }}" {
+      {{- if hasSuffix ".fifo" $queueName }}
+        fifo = true
+      {{- end }}
+      }
+    {{- end }}
+    }
+
+    messages-storage {
+      enabled = true
+      uri = "jdbc:h2:/data/elasticmq.db"
+    }
+
+    # Region and accountId which will be included in resource ids
+    aws {
+      region = eu-west-1
+      accountId = 000000000000
+    }
diff --git a/charts/fake-aws-sqs/templates/deployment.yaml b/charts/fake-aws-sqs/templates/deployment.yaml
index 24055e126a1..39848020c90 100644
--- a/charts/fake-aws-sqs/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/fake-aws-sqs/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ spec:
     metadata:
       labels:
         app: {{ template "fullname" . }}
+      annotations:
+        checksum/configmap: {{ include (print .Template.BasePath "/configmap.yaml") . | sha256sum }}
     spec:
       containers:
       - name: fake-aws-sqs
@@ -24,45 +26,22 @@ spec:
         - containerPort: {{ .Values.service.httpPort }}
           name: http
           protocol: TCP
+        command:
+        - /sbin/tini
+        - --
+        - /opt/elasticmq/bin/elasticmq-native-server
+        - -Dconfig.file=/config/elasticmq.conf
+        - -Dlogback.configurationFile=/opt/logback.xml
         volumeMounts:
         - name: storage
           mountPath: /data
+        - name: config
+          mountPath: /config
         resources:
 {{ toYaml .Values.resources | indent 12 }}
-      - name: initiate-fake-aws-sqs
-        image: mesosphere/aws-cli:1.14.5
-        command: [/bin/sh]
-        args:
-        - -c
-        - |
-          exec_until_ready() {
-              until $1; do echo 'service not ready yet'; sleep 1; done
-          }
-          queue_exists() {
-              # NOTE: we use the '"' to match the queue name more exactly (otherwise there is some overlap)
-              OUTPUT=$(aws --endpoint-url=http://localhost:{{ $.Values.service.httpPort }} sqs list-queues | grep $1'"' | wc -l)
-              echo $OUTPUT
-          }
-
-          echo 'Creating AWS resources'
-          aws configure set aws_access_key_id dummy
-          aws configure set aws_secret_access_key dummy
-          aws configure set region eu-west-1
-
-          while true
-          do
-              # Recreate resources if needed
-              {{ range $i, $queueName := .Values.queueNames }}
-                  QUEUE=$(queue_exists "{{ $queueName }}")
-                  if [ "$QUEUE" == "1" ]
-                    then echo "Queue {{ $queueName }} exists, no need to re-create"
-                    else exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://localhost:{{ $.Values.service.httpPort }} sqs create-queue --queue-name {{ $queueName }}"
-                  fi
-              {{ end }}
-
-              echo 'Sleeping 10'
-              sleep 10
-          done
       volumes:
         - emptyDir: {}
           name: "storage"
+        - name: config
+          configMap:
+            name: {{ template "fullname" . }}
diff --git a/charts/fake-aws-sqs/values.yaml b/charts/fake-aws-sqs/values.yaml
index 4f46cd50d94..a5161706986 100644
--- a/charts/fake-aws-sqs/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/fake-aws-sqs/values.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 image:
-  repository: airdock/fake-sqs
-  tag: 0.3.1
+  repository: softwaremill/elasticmq-native
+  tag: 1.5.2
 
 # TODO: in a wire-server chart, these queue names should match the ones defined in galley/brig/gundeck (i.e. only be defined once)
 queueNames:
diff --git a/charts/integration/templates/integration-integration.yaml b/charts/integration/templates/integration-integration.yaml
index 044b63b3b9a..2fe7718fa5f 100644
--- a/charts/integration/templates/integration-integration.yaml
+++ b/charts/integration/templates/integration-integration.yaml
@@ -113,7 +113,6 @@ spec:
         # FUTUREWORK: Do all of this in the integration test binary
         integration-dynamic-backends-db-schemas.sh --host {{ .Values.config.cassandra.host }} --port {{ .Values.config.cassandra.port }} --replication-factor {{ .Values.config.cassandra.replicationFactor }}
         integration-dynamic-backends-brig-index.sh --elasticsearch-server http://{{ .Values.config.elasticsearch.host }}:9200
-        integration-dynamic-backends-sqs.sh {{ .Values.config.sqsEndpointUrl }}
         integration-dynamic-backends-ses.sh {{ .Values.config.sesEndpointUrl }}
         integration-dynamic-backends-s3.sh {{ .Values.config.s3EndpointUrl }}
         {{- range $name, $dynamicBackend := .Values.config.dynamicBackends }}
diff --git a/deploy/dockerephemeral/docker-compose.yaml b/deploy/dockerephemeral/docker-compose.yaml
index 564141eebc5..b8bdebb4d9a 100644
--- a/deploy/dockerephemeral/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/deploy/dockerephemeral/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -34,10 +34,12 @@ services:
 
   fake_sqs:
     container_name: demo_wire_sqs
-#    image: airdock/fake-sqs:0.3.1
-    image: julialongtin/airdock_fakesqs:0.0.9
+    image: softwaremill/elasticmq-native:1.5.2
     ports:
       - 127.0.0.1:4568:4568
+      - 127.0.0.1:9325:9325
+    volumes:
+      - ./docker/elasticmq.conf:/opt/elasticmq.conf
     networks:
       - demo_wire
 
diff --git a/deploy/dockerephemeral/docker/elasticmq.conf b/deploy/dockerephemeral/docker/elasticmq.conf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7cd41d7317e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deploy/dockerephemeral/docker/elasticmq.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+include classpath("application.conf")
+
+# What is the outside visible address of this ElasticMQ node
+# Used to create the queue URL (may be different from bind address!)
+node-address {
+  protocol = http
+  host = localhost
+  port = 4568
+  context-path = ""
+}
+
+rest-sqs {
+  enabled = true
+  bind-port = 4568
+  bind-hostname = "0.0.0.0"
+  # Possible values: relaxed, strict
+  sqs-limits = strict
+}
+
+rest-stats {
+  enabled = true
+  bind-port = 9325
+  bind-hostname = "0.0.0.0"
+}
+
+# Should the node-address be generated from the bind port/hostname
+# Set this to true e.g. when assigning port automatically by using port 0.
+generate-node-address = false
+
+queues {
+  default-queue-template {
+    defaultVisibilityTimeout = 1s
+  }
+
+  fifo-queue-template {
+    defaultVisibilityTimeout = 1s
+    fifo = true
+  }
+
+  integration-brig-events =  ${queues.default-queue-template}
+  integration-brig-events2 = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+  integration-brig-events3 = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+  integration-brig-events4 = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+  integration-brig-events5 = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+  integration-brig-events-federation-v0 = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+
+  integration-brig-events-internal =  ${queues.default-queue-template}
+  integration-brig-events-internal2 = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+  integration-brig-events-internal3 = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+  integration-brig-events-internal4 = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+  integration-brig-events-internal5 = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+  integration-brig-events-internal-federation-v0 = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+
+  "integration-user-events.fifo" = ${queues.fifo-queue-template}
+  "integration-user-events2.fifo" = ${queues.fifo-queue-template}
+  "integration-user-events3.fifo" = ${queues.fifo-queue-template}
+  "integration-user-events4.fifo" = ${queues.fifo-queue-template}
+  "integration-user-events5.fifo" = ${queues.fifo-queue-template}
+  "integration-user-events-federation-v0.fifo" = ${queues.fifo-queue-template}
+
+  integration-gundeck-events = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+  integration-gundeck-events2 = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+  integration-gundeck-events3 = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+  integration-gundeck-events4 = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+  integration-gundeck-events5 = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+  integration-gundeck-events-federation-v0 = ${queues.default-queue-template}
+
+  "integration-team-events.fifo" = ${queues.fifo-queue-template}
+  "integration-team-events2.fifo" = ${queues.fifo-queue-template}
+  "integration-team-events3.fifo" = ${queues.fifo-queue-template}
+  "integration-team-events4.fifo" = ${queues.fifo-queue-template}
+  "integration-team-events5.fifo" = ${queues.fifo-queue-template}
+  "integration-team-events-federation-v0.fifo" = ${queues.fifo-queue-template}
+}
+
+# Region and accountId which will be included in resource ids
+aws {
+  region = eu-west-1
+  accountId = 000000000000
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/deploy/dockerephemeral/federation-v0/brig.yaml b/deploy/dockerephemeral/federation-v0/brig.yaml
index 693ba492783..06dfefe80e3 100644
--- a/deploy/dockerephemeral/federation-v0/brig.yaml
+++ b/deploy/dockerephemeral/federation-v0/brig.yaml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ federatorInternal:
 
 # You can set up local SQS/Dynamo running e.g. `../../deploy/dockerephemeral/run.sh`
 aws:
-  userJournalQueue: integration-user-events.fifo-federation-v0
+  userJournalQueue: integration-user-events-federation-v0.fifo
   # ^ Comment this out if you don't want to journal user events
   prekeyTable: integration-brig-prekeys-federation-v0
   sqsEndpoint: http://fake_sqs:4568 # https://sqs.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com
diff --git a/deploy/dockerephemeral/federation-v0/galley.yaml b/deploy/dockerephemeral/federation-v0/galley.yaml
index 6879901c48c..ab2644a8ef5 100644
--- a/deploy/dockerephemeral/federation-v0/galley.yaml
+++ b/deploy/dockerephemeral/federation-v0/galley.yaml
@@ -88,6 +88,6 @@ logLevel: Warn
 logNetStrings: false
 
 journal: # if set, journals; if not set, disables journaling
-  queueName: integration-team-events.fifo-federation-v0
+  queueName: integration-team-events-federation-v0.fifo
   endpoint: http://demo_wire_sqs:4568 # https://sqs.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com
   region: eu-west-1
diff --git a/deploy/dockerephemeral/init.sh b/deploy/dockerephemeral/init.sh
index f10067319aa..7f11fc7ee0c 100755
--- a/deploy/dockerephemeral/init.sh
+++ b/deploy/dockerephemeral/init.sh
@@ -22,25 +22,10 @@ for suffix in "" "2" "3" "4" "5" "-federation-v0"; do
     aws --endpoint-url=http://dynamodb:8000 dynamodb delete-table --table-name integration-brig-userkey-blacklist$suffix || true
     aws --endpoint-url=http://dynamodb:8000 dynamodb delete-table --table-name integration-brig-prekeys$suffix || true
 
-    # Create Dynamo/SQS resources
+    # Create Dynamo resources
     exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://dynamodb:8000 dynamodb create-table --table-name integration-brig-userkey-blacklist$suffix --attribute-definitions AttributeName=key,AttributeType=S --key-schema AttributeName=key,KeyType=HASH --provisioned-throughput ReadCapacityUnits=5,WriteCapacityUnits=5"
     exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://dynamodb:8000 dynamodb create-table --table-name integration-brig-prekeys$suffix --attribute-definitions AttributeName=client,AttributeType=S --key-schema AttributeName=client,KeyType=HASH --provisioned-throughput ReadCapacityUnits=5,WriteCapacityUnits=5"
 
-    exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://sqs:4568 sqs create-queue --queue-name integration-brig-events$suffix"
-    exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://sqs:4568 sqs set-queue-attributes --queue-url http://sqs:4568/integration-brig-events$suffix --attributes VisibilityTimeout=1"
-    exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://sqs:4568 sqs create-queue --queue-name integration-brig-events-internal$suffix"
-    exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://sqs:4568 sqs set-queue-attributes --queue-url http://sqs:4568/integration-brig-events-internal$suffix --attributes VisibilityTimeout=1"
-    exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://sqs:4568 sqs create-queue --queue-name integration-user-events.fifo$suffix"
-    exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://sqs:4568 sqs set-queue-attributes --queue-url http://sqs:4568/integration-user-events.fifo$suffix --attributes VisibilityTimeout=1"
-
-    # Gundeck's feedback queue
-    exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://sqs:4568 sqs create-queue --queue-name integration-gundeck-events$suffix"
-    exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://sqs:4568 sqs set-queue-attributes --queue-url http://sqs:4568/integration-gundeck-events$suffix --attributes VisibilityTimeout=1"
-
-    # Galley's team event queue
-    exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://sqs:4568 sqs create-queue --queue-name integration-team-events.fifo$suffix"
-    exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://sqs:4568 sqs set-queue-attributes --queue-url http://sqs:4568/integration-team-events.fifo$suffix --attributes VisibilityTimeout=1"
-
     # Verify sender's email address (ensure the sender address is in sync with the config in brig)
     exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://ses:4579 ses verify-email-identity --email-address backend-integration$suffix@wire.com"
 
@@ -53,6 +38,13 @@ for suffix in "" "2" "3" "4" "5" "-federation-v0"; do
     # TODO: Lifecycle configuration for the bucket, if supported.
     aws --endpoint-url=http://s3:9000 s3api create-bucket --bucket "dummy-bucket$suffix"
     aws --endpoint-url=http://s3:9000 s3api wait bucket-exists --bucket "dummy-bucket$suffix"
+
+    # Check that SQS resources are created
+    exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://sqs:4568 sqs get-queue-url --queue-name integration-brig-events$suffix"
+    exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://sqs:4568 sqs get-queue-url --queue-name integration-brig-events-internal$suffix"
+    exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://sqs:4568 sqs get-queue-url --queue-name integration-user-events$suffix.fifo"
+    exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://sqs:4568 sqs get-queue-url --queue-name integration-gundeck-events"
+    exec_until_ready "aws --endpoint-url=http://sqs:4568 sqs get-queue-url --queue-name integration-team-events$suffix.fifo"
 done
 
 echo 'AWS resources created successfully!'
diff --git a/hack/helm_vars/fake-aws/values.yaml b/hack/helm_vars/fake-aws/values.yaml
index 543867c48cf..57bb23acb05 100644
--- a/hack/helm_vars/fake-aws/values.yaml
+++ b/hack/helm_vars/fake-aws/values.yaml
@@ -1,3 +1,36 @@
 fake-aws-ses:
   enabled: true
   sesSender: "backend-integrationk8s@wire.com"
+
+fake-aws-sqs:
+  queueNames:
+  - "integration-brig-events"
+  - "integration-brig-events-internal"
+  - "integration-gundeck-events"
+  - "integration-user-events.fifo"
+  - "integration-team-events.fifo"
+
+  # No need for the set of queues with "2" as the suffix because the second
+  # deployment of wire-server runs in a separate namespace (the "-fed2"
+  # namespace) with its own fake-aws-sqs.
+  #
+  # In that namespace these extra queues will be unused, but its easier to
+  # create them and not use them than to not create them. It shouldn't create
+  # any significant perfomance degradation.
+  - "integration-brig-events3"
+  - "integration-brig-events-internal3"
+  - "integration-gundeck-events3"
+  - "integration-user-events3.fifo"
+  - "integration-team-events3.fifo"
+
+  - "integration-brig-events4"
+  - "integration-brig-events-internal4"
+  - "integration-gundeck-events4"
+  - "integration-user-events4.fifo"
+  - "integration-team-events4.fifo"
+
+  - "integration-brig-events5"
+  - "integration-brig-events-internal5"
+  - "integration-gundeck-events5"
+  - "integration-user-events5.fifo"
+  - "integration-team-events5.fifo"
diff --git a/integration/scripts/integration-dynamic-backends-sqs.sh b/integration/scripts/integration-dynamic-backends-sqs.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index d85a3c85f06..00000000000
--- a/integration/scripts/integration-dynamic-backends-sqs.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-set -eo pipefail
-
-ENDPOINT_URL=$1
-
-for i in $(seq "$INTEGRATION_DYNAMIC_BACKENDS_POOLSIZE"); do
-    suffix=$((i + 2))
-    aws --endpoint-url="$ENDPOINT_URL" sqs create-queue --queue-name integration-brig-events$suffix
-    aws --endpoint-url="$ENDPOINT_URL" sqs set-queue-attributes --queue-url "$ENDPOINT_URL/integration-brig-events$suffix" --attributes VisibilityTimeout=1
-    aws --endpoint-url="$ENDPOINT_URL" sqs create-queue --queue-name integration-brig-events-internal$suffix
-    aws --endpoint-url="$ENDPOINT_URL" sqs set-queue-attributes --queue-url "$ENDPOINT_URL/integration-brig-events-internal$suffix" --attributes VisibilityTimeout=1
-    aws --endpoint-url="$ENDPOINT_URL" sqs create-queue --queue-name integration-user-events.fifo$suffix
-    aws --endpoint-url="$ENDPOINT_URL" sqs set-queue-attributes --queue-url "$ENDPOINT_URL/integration-user-events.fifo$suffix" --attributes VisibilityTimeout=1
-
-    # Gundeck's feedback queue
-    aws --endpoint-url="$ENDPOINT_URL" sqs create-queue --queue-name "integration-gundeck-events$suffix"
-    aws --endpoint-url="$ENDPOINT_URL" sqs set-queue-attributes --queue-url "$ENDPOINT_URL/integration-gundeck-events$suffix" --attributes VisibilityTimeout=1
-
-    # Galley's team event queue
-    aws --endpoint-url="$ENDPOINT_URL" sqs create-queue --queue-name "integration-team-events.fifo$suffix"
-    aws --endpoint-url="$ENDPOINT_URL" sqs set-queue-attributes --queue-url "$ENDPOINT_URL/integration-team-events.fifo$suffix" --attributes VisibilityTimeout=1
-done
-
-echo 'AWS sqs queues created successfully!'
-
diff --git a/integration/test/Testlib/ResourcePool.hs b/integration/test/Testlib/ResourcePool.hs
index de35ea2d70e..db685049dab 100644
--- a/integration/test/Testlib/ResourcePool.hs
+++ b/integration/test/Testlib/ResourcePool.hs
@@ -112,14 +112,14 @@ backendResources dynConfs =
                     berFederatorInternal = Ports.portForDyn (Ports.ServiceInternal FederatorInternal) i,
                     berFederatorExternal = dynConf.federatorExternalPort,
                     berDomain = dynConf.domain,
-                    berAwsUserJournalQueue = "integration-user-events.fifo" <> suffix i,
+                    berAwsUserJournalQueue = "integration-user-events" <> suffix i <> ".fifo",
                     berAwsPrekeyTable = "integration-brig-prekeys" <> suffix i,
                     berAwsS3Bucket = "dummy-bucket" <> suffix i,
                     berAwsQueueName = "integration-gundeck-events" <> suffix i,
                     berBrigInternalEvents = "integration-brig-events-internal" <> suffix i,
                     berEmailSMSSesQueue = "integration-brig-events" <> suffix i,
                     berEmailSMSEmailSender = "backend-integration" <> suffix i <> "@wire.com",
-                    berGalleyJournal = "integration-team-events.fifo" <> suffix i,
+                    berGalleyJournal = "integration-team-events" <> suffix i <> ".fifo",
                     berVHost = dynConf.domain,
                     berNginzSslPort = Ports.portForDyn Ports.NginzSSL i,
                     berNginzHttp2Port = Ports.portForDyn Ports.NginzHttp2 i,
@@ -168,14 +168,14 @@ backendB =
       berFederatorInternal = Ports.port (Ports.ServiceInternal FederatorInternal) BackendB,
       berFederatorExternal = Ports.port Ports.FederatorExternal BackendB,
       berDomain = "b.example.com",
-      berAwsUserJournalQueue = "integration-user-events.fifo2",
+      berAwsUserJournalQueue = "integration-user-events2.fifo",
       berAwsPrekeyTable = "integration-brig-prekeys2",
       berAwsS3Bucket = "dummy-bucket2",
       berAwsQueueName = "integration-gundeck-events2",
       berBrigInternalEvents = "integration-brig-events-internal2",
       berEmailSMSSesQueue = "integration-brig-events2",
       berEmailSMSEmailSender = "backend-integration2@wire.com",
-      berGalleyJournal = "integration-team-events.fifo2",
+      berGalleyJournal = "integration-team-events2.fifo",
       -- FUTUREWORK: set up vhosts in dev/ci for example.com and b.example.com
       -- in case we want backendA and backendB to federate with a third backend
       -- (because otherwise both queues will overlap)
diff --git a/libs/types-common-aws/src/Util/Test/SQS.hs b/libs/types-common-aws/src/Util/Test/SQS.hs
index c94188c2aea..f91b649d896 100644
--- a/libs/types-common-aws/src/Util/Test/SQS.hs
+++ b/libs/types-common-aws/src/Util/Test/SQS.hs
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@
 {-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE TypeFamilies #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE UndecidableInstances #-}
--- Disabling for HasCallStack
-{-# OPTIONS_GHC -Wno-redundant-constraints #-}
 
 -- This file is part of the Wire Server implementation.
 --
@@ -37,7 +35,8 @@ import Data.ProtoLens
 import Data.Text.Encoding qualified as Text
 import Imports
 import Safe (headDef)
-import UnliftIO (Async, async)
+import UnliftIO (Async, async, throwIO)
+import UnliftIO.Async qualified as Async
 import UnliftIO.Resource (MonadResource, ResourceT)
 import UnliftIO.Timeout (timeout)
 
@@ -54,17 +53,33 @@ data SQSWatcher a = SQSWatcher
 -- the queue has too many things in it before the tests start.
 -- Note that the purgeQueue command is not guaranteed to be instant (can take up to 60 seconds)
 -- Hopefully, the fake-aws implementation used during tests is fast enough.
-watchSQSQueue :: Message a => AWS.Env -> Text -> IO (SQSWatcher a)
-watchSQSQueue env queueUrl = do
+watchSQSQueue :: (Message a) => AWS.Env -> Text -> IO (SQSWatcher a)
+watchSQSQueue env queueName = do
   eventsRef <- newIORef []
-  ensureEmpty
-  process <- async $ recieveLoop eventsRef
+
+  queueUrlRes <- execute env . sendEnv $ SQS.newGetQueueUrl queueName
+  let queueUrl = view SQS.getQueueUrlResponse_queueUrl queueUrlRes
+
+  ensureEmpty queueUrl
+  process <- async $ do
+    -- Every receive request takes ~300ms (on my machine). This puts a limit of
+    -- ~3 notifications per second. Which makes tests reallly slow. SQS scales
+    -- pretty well with multiple consumers, so we start 5 consumers here to bump
+    -- the max throughput to about ~15 notifications per second.
+    loop1 <- async $ receiveLoop queueUrl eventsRef
+    loop2 <- async $ receiveLoop queueUrl eventsRef
+    loop3 <- async $ receiveLoop queueUrl eventsRef
+    loop4 <- async $ receiveLoop queueUrl eventsRef
+    loop5 <- async $ receiveLoop queueUrl eventsRef
+    _ <- Async.waitAny [loop1, loop2, loop3, loop4, loop5]
+    throwIO $ BackgroundThreadNotRunning $ "One of the SQS receive loops finished, all of them are supposed to run forever"
+
   pure $ SQSWatcher process eventsRef
   where
-    recieveLoop ref = do
+    receiveLoop queueUrl ref = do
       let rcvReq =
             SQS.newReceiveMessage queueUrl
-              & set SQS.receiveMessage_waitTimeSeconds (Just 100)
+              & set SQS.receiveMessage_waitTimeSeconds (Just 10)
                 . set SQS.receiveMessage_maxNumberOfMessages (Just 1)
                 . set SQS.receiveMessage_visibilityTimeout (Just 1)
       rcvRes <- execute env $ sendEnv rcvReq
@@ -74,16 +89,27 @@ watchSQSQueue env queueUrl = do
         [] -> pure ()
         _ -> atomicModifyIORef ref $ \xs ->
           (parsedMsgs <> xs, ())
-      recieveLoop ref
+      receiveLoop queueUrl ref
+
+    ensureEmpty :: Text -> IO ()
+    ensureEmpty queueUrl = void $ execute env $ sendEnv (SQS.newPurgeQueue queueUrl)
+
+data SQSWatcherError = BackgroundThreadNotRunning String
+  deriving (Show)
 
-    ensureEmpty :: IO ()
-    ensureEmpty = void $ execute env $ sendEnv (SQS.newPurgeQueue queueUrl)
+instance Exception SQSWatcherError
 
 -- | Waits for a message matching a predicate for a given number of seconds.
-waitForMessage :: (MonadUnliftIO m, Eq a) => SQSWatcher a -> Int -> (a -> Bool) -> m (Maybe a)
+waitForMessage :: forall m a. (MonadUnliftIO m, Eq a, HasCallStack) => SQSWatcher a -> Int -> (a -> Bool) -> m (Maybe a)
 waitForMessage watcher seconds predicate = timeout (seconds * 1_000_000) poll
   where
+    poll :: (HasCallStack) => m a
     poll = do
+      -- Check if the background thread is still alive. If not fail with a nicer error
+      Async.poll watcher.watcherProcess >>= \case
+        Nothing -> pure ()
+        Just (Left err) -> throwIO $ BackgroundThreadNotRunning $ "Thread finished with exception: " <> show err
+        Just (Right ()) -> throwIO $ BackgroundThreadNotRunning "Thread finished without any exceptions when it was supposed to run forever"
       matched <- atomicModifyIORef (events watcher) $ \events ->
         case filter predicate events of
           [] -> (events, Nothing)
@@ -95,7 +121,7 @@ waitForMessage watcher seconds predicate = timeout (seconds * 1_000_000) poll
 -- an assertion on such a message.
 assertMessage :: (MonadUnliftIO m, Eq a, HasCallStack) => SQSWatcher a -> String -> (a -> Bool) -> (String -> Maybe a -> m ()) -> m ()
 assertMessage watcher label predicate callback = do
-  matched <- waitForMessage watcher 10 predicate
+  matched <- waitForMessage watcher 5 predicate
   callback label matched
 
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/nix/wire-server.nix b/nix/wire-server.nix
index 82a0211e427..89356ed00c2 100644
--- a/nix/wire-server.nix
+++ b/nix/wire-server.nix
@@ -223,13 +223,6 @@ let
     checkPhase = "";
   };
 
-  integration-dynamic-backends-sqs = pkgs.writeShellApplication {
-    name = "integration-dynamic-backends-sqs.sh";
-    text = "${builtins.readFile ../integration/scripts/integration-dynamic-backends-sqs.sh}";
-    runtimeInputs = [ pkgs.parallel pkgs.awscli2 ];
-    checkPhase = "";
-  };
-
   integration-dynamic-backends-ses = pkgs.writeShellApplication {
     name = "integration-dynamic-backends-ses.sh";
     text = "${builtins.readFile ../integration/scripts/integration-dynamic-backends-ses.sh}";
@@ -286,7 +279,6 @@ let
       pkgs.awscli2
       integration-dynamic-backends-db-schemas
       integration-dynamic-backends-brig-index
-      integration-dynamic-backends-sqs
       integration-dynamic-backends-ses
       integration-dynamic-backends-s3
       integration-dynamic-backends-vhosts
diff --git a/services/brig/test/integration/Run.hs b/services/brig/test/integration/Run.hs
index a987096b8c5..7fe1b37bda5 100644
--- a/services/brig/test/integration/Run.hs
+++ b/services/brig/test/integration/Run.hs
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ runTests iConf brigOpts otherArgs = do
   let fedGalleyClient = FedClient @'Galley mg (galley iConf)
   emailAWSOpts <- parseEmailAWSOpts
   awsEnv <- AWS.mkEnv lg awsOpts emailAWSOpts mg
-  mUserJournalWatcher <- for (view AWS.userJournalQueue awsEnv) $ SQS.watchSQSQueue (view AWS.amazonkaEnv awsEnv)
+  mUserJournalWatcher <- for (Opts.userJournalQueue awsOpts) $ SQS.watchSQSQueue (view AWS.amazonkaEnv awsEnv)
   userApi <- User.tests brigOpts fedBrigClient fedGalleyClient mg b c ch g n awsEnv db mUserJournalWatcher
   providerApi <- Provider.tests localDomain (provider iConf) mg db b c g n
   searchApis <- Search.tests brigOpts mg g b