diff --git a/decaymap/decaymap.go b/decaymap/decaymap.go
index 37997e1a..267841ac 100644
--- a/decaymap/decaymap.go
+++ b/decaymap/decaymap.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ type Impl[K comparable, V any] struct {
 	// stopCh stops the background cleanup worker.
 	stopCh chan struct{}
 	wg     sync.WaitGroup
-	lock   sync.RWMutex
+	lock   sync.Mutex
 }
 
 type decayMapEntry[V any] struct {
@@ -70,9 +70,14 @@ func (m *Impl[K, V]) Delete(key K) bool {
 	// Use a single write lock to avoid RUnlock->Lock convoy.
 	m.lock.Lock()
 	defer m.lock.Unlock()
-	_, ok := m.data[key]
+	value, ok := m.data[key]
 	if ok {
-		delete(m.data, key)
+		select {
+		// Defer decay deletion to the background worker to avoid convoy.
+		case m.deleteCh <- deleteReq[K]{key: key, expiry: value.expiry}:
+		default:
+			// Channel full: drop request; a future Cleanup() or Get will retry.
+		}
 	}
 	return ok
 }
@@ -81,9 +86,9 @@ func (m *Impl[K, V]) Delete(key K) bool {
 //
 // If a value has expired, forcibly delete it if it was not updated.
 func (m *Impl[K, V]) Get(key K) (V, bool) {
-	m.lock.RLock()
+	m.lock.Lock()
+	defer m.lock.Unlock()
 	value, ok := m.data[key]
-	m.lock.RUnlock()
 
 	if !ok {
 		return Zilch[V](), false
@@ -129,8 +134,8 @@ func (m *Impl[K, V]) Cleanup() {
 
 // Len returns the number of entries in the DecayMap.
 func (m *Impl[K, V]) Len() int {
-	m.lock.RLock()
-	defer m.lock.RUnlock()
+	m.lock.Lock()
+	defer m.lock.Unlock()
 	return len(m.data)
 }
 
@@ -146,7 +151,7 @@ func (m *Impl[K, V]) Close() {
 func (m *Impl[K, V]) cleanupWorker() {
 	defer m.wg.Done()
 	batch := make([]deleteReq[K], 0, 64)
-	ticker := time.NewTicker(10 * time.Millisecond)
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(time.Minute)
 	defer ticker.Stop()
 
 	flush := func() {