diff --git a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/events.rs b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/events.rs
index fed05032374..b267cc853f8 100644
--- a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/events.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/events.rs
@@ -21,8 +21,11 @@ pub struct ServerSentEventHandler<T: EthSpec> {
 }
 
 impl<T: EthSpec> ServerSentEventHandler<T> {
-    pub fn new(log: Logger) -> Self {
-        Self::new_with_capacity(log, DEFAULT_CHANNEL_CAPACITY)
+    pub fn new(log: Logger, capacity_multiplier: usize) -> Self {
+        Self::new_with_capacity(
+            log,
+            capacity_multiplier.saturating_mul(DEFAULT_CHANNEL_CAPACITY),
+        )
     }
 
     pub fn new_with_capacity(log: Logger, capacity: usize) -> Self {
diff --git a/beacon_node/client/src/builder.rs b/beacon_node/client/src/builder.rs
index 44112271636..fc3e5f5cefe 100644
--- a/beacon_node/client/src/builder.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/client/src/builder.rs
@@ -159,7 +159,10 @@ where
         let context = runtime_context.service_context("beacon".into());
         let spec = chain_spec.ok_or("beacon_chain_start_method requires a chain spec")?;
         let event_handler = if self.http_api_config.enabled {
-            Some(ServerSentEventHandler::new(context.log().clone()))
+            Some(ServerSentEventHandler::new(
+                context.log().clone(),
+                self.http_api_config.sse_capacity_multiplier,
+            ))
         } else {
             None
         };
diff --git a/beacon_node/http_api/src/test_utils.rs b/beacon_node/http_api/src/test_utils.rs
index 18c2df31d15..f041f5a3600 100644
--- a/beacon_node/http_api/src/test_utils.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/http_api/src/test_utils.rs
@@ -222,6 +222,7 @@ pub async fn create_api_server_on_port<T: BeaconChainTypes>(
             allow_sync_stalled: false,
             data_dir: std::path::PathBuf::from(DEFAULT_ROOT_DIR),
             spec_fork_name: None,
+            sse_capacity_multiplier: 1,
             enable_beacon_processor: true,
         },
         chain: Some(chain),
diff --git a/beacon_node/src/cli.rs b/beacon_node/src/cli.rs
index 2b5c243b08b..30bb11d8d96 100644
--- a/beacon_node/src/cli.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/src/cli.rs
@@ -389,6 +389,15 @@ pub fn cli_app<'a, 'b>() -> App<'a, 'b> {
                     stalled. This is useful for very small testnets. TESTING ONLY. DO NOT USE ON \
                     MAINNET.")
         )
+        .arg(
+            Arg::with_name("http-sse-capacity-multiplier")
+                .long("http-sse-capacity-multiplier")
+                .takes_value(true)
+                .default_value("1")
+                .value_name("N")
+                .help("Multiplier to apply to the length of HTTP server-sent-event (SSE) channels. \
+                       Increasing this value can prevent messages from being dropped.")
+        )
         .arg(
             Arg::with_name("http-enable-beacon-processor")
                 .long("http-enable-beacon-processor")
diff --git a/beacon_node/src/config.rs b/beacon_node/src/config.rs
index 14858976730..90d1254607d 100644
--- a/beacon_node/src/config.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/src/config.rs
@@ -150,6 +150,9 @@ pub fn get_config<E: EthSpec>(
         client_config.http_api.allow_sync_stalled = true;
     }
 
+    client_config.http_api.sse_capacity_multiplier =
+        parse_required(cli_args, "http-sse-capacity-multiplier")?;
+
     client_config.http_api.enable_beacon_processor =
         parse_required(cli_args, "http-enable-beacon-processor")?;
 
diff --git a/lighthouse/tests/beacon_node.rs b/lighthouse/tests/beacon_node.rs
index 14c35316399..be7e4a71be2 100644
--- a/lighthouse/tests/beacon_node.rs
+++ b/lighthouse/tests/beacon_node.rs
@@ -2388,3 +2388,18 @@ fn beacon_processor_zero_workers() {
         .flag("beacon-processor-max-workers", Some("0"))
         .run_with_zero_port();
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn http_sse_capacity_multiplier_default() {
+    CommandLineTest::new()
+        .run_with_zero_port()
+        .with_config(|config| assert_eq!(config.http_api.sse_capacity_multiplier, 1));
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn http_sse_capacity_multiplier_override() {
+    CommandLineTest::new()
+        .flag("http-sse-capacity-multiplier", Some("10"))
+        .run_with_zero_port()
+        .with_config(|config| assert_eq!(config.http_api.sse_capacity_multiplier, 10));
+}