diff --git a/libs/async/include/psemek/async/event_loop.hpp b/libs/async/include/psemek/async/event_loop.hpp
index 9efee81e..35b7d9db 100644
--- a/libs/async/include/psemek/async/event_loop.hpp
+++ b/libs/async/include/psemek/async/event_loop.hpp
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@
 #include <psemek/async/executor.hpp>
 #include <psemek/util/synchronyzed_queue.hpp>
 
-#include <deque>
-#include <vector>
+#include <optional>
 
 namespace psemek::async
 {
@@ -29,7 +28,7 @@ namespace psemek::async
 		~event_loop() override { stop(); }
 
 		// wait all non-delayed events
-		void pump();
+		std::size_t pump(std::optional<std::size_t> max_events = std::nullopt);
 
 	private:
 		util::synchronized_queue<task> queue_;
diff --git a/libs/async/source/event_loop.cpp b/libs/async/source/event_loop.cpp
index 0968b214..546694c8 100644
--- a/libs/async/source/event_loop.cpp
+++ b/libs/async/source/event_loop.cpp
@@ -49,14 +49,17 @@ namespace psemek::async
 		return queue_.size();
 	}
 
-	void event_loop::pump()
+	std::size_t event_loop::pump(std::optional<std::size_t> max_events)
 	{
-		while (true)
+		std::size_t events = 0;
+		while (!max_events || events < *max_events)
 		{
 			auto t = queue_.try_pop();
 			if (!t) break;
 			(*t)();
+			++events;
 		}
+		return events;
 	}
 
 }