diff --git a/apis/rust/node/src/event_stream/event.rs b/apis/rust/node/src/event_stream/event.rs
index 75b3c595..426b344c 100644
--- a/apis/rust/node/src/event_stream/event.rs
+++ b/apis/rust/node/src/event_stream/event.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ use std::{ptr::NonNull, sync::Arc};
 
 use aligned_vec::{AVec, ConstAlign};
 use dora_arrow_convert::{ArrowData, IntoArrow};
+pub use dora_core::daemon_messages::InputDropReason;
 use dora_core::{
     config::{DataId, OperatorId},
     message::{ArrowTypeInfo, BufferOffset, Metadata},
@@ -25,6 +26,10 @@ pub enum Event {
         id: DataId,
     },
     Error(String),
+    DroppedInputs {
+        reason: InputDropReason,
+        number: usize,
+    },
 }
 
 pub enum RawData {
diff --git a/apis/rust/node/src/event_stream/mod.rs b/apis/rust/node/src/event_stream/mod.rs
index 9575a8d7..d3985fca 100644
--- a/apis/rust/node/src/event_stream/mod.rs
+++ b/apis/rust/node/src/event_stream/mod.rs
@@ -175,6 +175,9 @@ impl EventStream {
                     tracing::error!("{err:?}");
                     Event::Error(err.wrap_err("internal error").to_string())
                 }
+                NodeEvent::DroppedInputs { reason, number } => {
+                    Event::DroppedInputs { reason, number }
+                }
             },
 
             EventItem::FatalError(err) => {
diff --git a/binaries/daemon/src/node_communication/mod.rs b/binaries/daemon/src/node_communication/mod.rs
index 8fd200de..76f5cc04 100644
--- a/binaries/daemon/src/node_communication/mod.rs
+++ b/binaries/daemon/src/node_communication/mod.rs
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ use crate::{DaemonNodeEvent, Event};
 use dora_core::{
     config::{DataId, LocalCommunicationConfig, NodeId},
     daemon_messages::{
-        DaemonCommunication, DaemonReply, DaemonRequest, DataflowId, NodeDropEvent, NodeEvent,
-        Timestamped,
+        DaemonCommunication, DaemonReply, DaemonRequest, DataflowId, InputDropReason,
+        NodeDropEvent, NodeEvent, Timestamped,
     },
     message::uhlc,
 };
@@ -298,7 +298,8 @@ impl Listener {
         let mut drop_tokens = Vec::new();
 
         // iterate over queued events, newest first
-        for event in self.queue.iter_mut().rev() {
+        let mut last_dropped = None;
+        for (i, event) in self.queue.iter_mut().enumerate().rev() {
             let Some(Timestamped {
                 inner: NodeEvent::Input { id, data, .. },
                 ..
@@ -313,6 +314,7 @@ impl Listener {
                         drop_tokens.push(drop_token);
                     }
                     *event.as_mut() = None;
+                    last_dropped = Some(i);
                 }
                 Some(size_remaining) => {
                     *size_remaining = size_remaining.saturating_sub(1);
@@ -324,8 +326,18 @@ impl Listener {
         }
         self.report_drop_tokens(drop_tokens).await?;
 
-        if dropped > 0 {
+        if let Some(last_dropped) = last_dropped {
             tracing::debug!("dropped {dropped} inputs because event queue was too full");
+            // replace last dropped event with `DroppedInputs` event
+            let entry = &mut self.queue[last_dropped];
+            assert!(entry.is_none());
+            *entry = Box::new(Some(Timestamped {
+                inner: NodeEvent::DroppedInputs {
+                    reason: InputDropReason::QueueSize,
+                    number: dropped,
+                },
+                timestamp: self.clock.new_timestamp(),
+            }));
         }
         Ok(())
     }
diff --git a/libraries/core/src/daemon_messages.rs b/libraries/core/src/daemon_messages.rs
index 91c634cc..647750cd 100644
--- a/libraries/core/src/daemon_messages.rs
+++ b/libraries/core/src/daemon_messages.rs
@@ -160,6 +160,16 @@ pub enum NodeEvent {
         id: DataId,
     },
     AllInputsClosed,
+    DroppedInputs {
+        reason: InputDropReason,
+        number: usize,
+    },
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize)]
+#[non_exhaustive]
+pub enum InputDropReason {
+    QueueSize,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize)]