diff --git a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
index 396338321ef..3fed6771468 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ https://github.com/elastic/beats/compare/v8.8.1\...main[Check the HEAD diff]
 - Support Elastic Agent control protocol chunking support {pull}37343[37343]
 - Lower logging level to debug when attempting to configure beats with unknown fields from autodiscovered events/environments {pull}[37816][37816]
 - Set timeout of 1 minute for FQDN requests {pull}37756[37756]
+- Fix issue where old data could be saved in the memory queue after acknowledgment, increasing memory use {pull}41356[41356]
 
 *Auditbeat*
 
diff --git a/libbeat/publisher/pipeline/ttl_batch.go b/libbeat/publisher/pipeline/ttl_batch.go
index dab77fa5659..0ef4408b613 100644
--- a/libbeat/publisher/pipeline/ttl_batch.go
+++ b/libbeat/publisher/pipeline/ttl_batch.go
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ func newBatch(retryer retryer, original queue.Batch, ttl int) *ttlBatch {
 			events = append(events, event)
 		}
 	}
+	original.FreeEntries()
 
 	b := &ttlBatch{
 		done:    original.Done,
diff --git a/libbeat/publisher/pipeline/ttl_batch_test.go b/libbeat/publisher/pipeline/ttl_batch_test.go
index 769ccc37c35..4c5207acbb0 100644
--- a/libbeat/publisher/pipeline/ttl_batch_test.go
+++ b/libbeat/publisher/pipeline/ttl_batch_test.go
@@ -112,6 +112,12 @@ func TestBatchCallsDoneAndFreesEvents(t *testing.T) {
 	require.True(t, doneCalled, "Calling batch.Drop should invoke the done callback")
 }
 
+func TestNewBatchFreesEvents(t *testing.T) {
+	queueBatch := &mockQueueBatch{}
+	_ = newBatch(nil, queueBatch, 0)
+	assert.Equal(t, 1, queueBatch.freeEntriesCalled, "Creating a new ttlBatch should call FreeEntries on the underlying queue.Batch")
+}
+
 type mockQueueBatch struct {
 	freeEntriesCalled int
 }
@@ -127,6 +133,10 @@ func (b *mockQueueBatch) Entry(i int) queue.Entry {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("event %v", i)
 }
 
+func (b *mockQueueBatch) FreeEntries() {
+	b.freeEntriesCalled++
+}
+
 type mockRetryer struct {
 	batches []*ttlBatch
 }
diff --git a/libbeat/publisher/queue/diskqueue/consumer.go b/libbeat/publisher/queue/diskqueue/consumer.go
index 20e6648d927..a0e5e944df3 100644
--- a/libbeat/publisher/queue/diskqueue/consumer.go
+++ b/libbeat/publisher/queue/diskqueue/consumer.go
@@ -97,6 +97,9 @@ func (batch *diskQueueBatch) Entry(i int) queue.Entry {
 	return batch.frames[i].event
 }
 
+func (batch *diskQueueBatch) FreeEntries() {
+}
+
 func (batch *diskQueueBatch) Done() {
 	batch.queue.acks.addFrames(batch.frames)
 }
diff --git a/libbeat/publisher/queue/memqueue/broker.go b/libbeat/publisher/queue/memqueue/broker.go
index b617bae6110..3e3e47e502c 100644
--- a/libbeat/publisher/queue/memqueue/broker.go
+++ b/libbeat/publisher/queue/memqueue/broker.go
@@ -398,6 +398,15 @@ func (b *batch) Entry(i int) queue.Entry {
 	return b.rawEntry(i).event
 }
 
+func (b *batch) FreeEntries() {
+	// This signals that the event data has been copied out of the batch, and is
+	// safe to free from the queue buffer, so set all the event pointers to nil.
+	for i := 0; i < b.count; i++ {
+		index := (b.start + i) % len(b.queue.buf)
+		b.queue.buf[index].event = nil
+	}
+}
+
 func (b *batch) Done() {
 	b.doneChan <- batchDoneMsg{}
 }
diff --git a/libbeat/publisher/queue/memqueue/queue_test.go b/libbeat/publisher/queue/memqueue/queue_test.go
index 9cd209bbd51..168c923e598 100644
--- a/libbeat/publisher/queue/memqueue/queue_test.go
+++ b/libbeat/publisher/queue/memqueue/queue_test.go
@@ -262,3 +262,41 @@ func TestAdjustInputQueueSize(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Equal(t, int(float64(mainQueue)*maxInputQueueSizeRatio), AdjustInputQueueSize(mainQueue, mainQueue))
 	})
 }
+
+func TestBatchFreeEntries(t *testing.T) {
+	const queueSize = 10
+	const batchSize = 5
+	// 1. Add 10 events to the queue, request two batches with 5 events each
+	// 2. Make sure the queue buffer has 10 non-nil events
+	// 3. Call FreeEntries on the second batch
+	// 4. Make sure only events 6-10 are nil
+	// 5. Call FreeEntries on the first batch
+	// 6. Make sure all events are nil
+	testQueue := NewQueue(nil, nil, Settings{Events: queueSize, MaxGetRequest: batchSize, FlushTimeout: time.Second}, 0, nil)
+	producer := testQueue.Producer(queue.ProducerConfig{})
+	for i := 0; i < queueSize; i++ {
+		_, ok := producer.Publish(i)
+		require.True(t, ok, "Queue publish must succeed")
+	}
+	batch1, err := testQueue.Get(batchSize)
+	require.NoError(t, err, "Queue read must succeed")
+	require.Equal(t, batchSize, batch1.Count(), "Returned batch size must match request")
+	batch2, err := testQueue.Get(batchSize)
+	require.NoError(t, err, "Queue read must succeed")
+	require.Equal(t, batchSize, batch2.Count(), "Returned batch size must match request")
+	// Slight concurrency subtlety: we check events are non-nil after the queue
+	// reads, since if we do it before we have no way to be sure the insert
+	// has been completed.
+	for i := 0; i < queueSize; i++ {
+		require.NotNil(t, testQueue.buf[i].event, "All queue events must be non-nil")
+	}
+	batch2.FreeEntries()
+	for i := 0; i < batchSize; i++ {
+		require.NotNilf(t, testQueue.buf[i].event, "Queue index %v: batch 1's events should be unaffected by calling FreeEntries on Batch 2", i)
+		require.Nilf(t, testQueue.buf[batchSize+i].event, "Queue index %v: batch 2's events should be nil after FreeEntries", batchSize+i)
+	}
+	batch1.FreeEntries()
+	for i := 0; i < queueSize; i++ {
+		require.Nilf(t, testQueue.buf[i].event, "Queue index %v: all events should be nil after calling FreeEntries on both batches")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/libbeat/publisher/queue/queue.go b/libbeat/publisher/queue/queue.go
index 075d7ad66a4..983a835a069 100644
--- a/libbeat/publisher/queue/queue.go
+++ b/libbeat/publisher/queue/queue.go
@@ -112,6 +112,10 @@ type Batch interface {
 	Count() int
 	Entry(i int) Entry
 	Done()
+	// Release internal references to the contained events if supported
+	// (the disk queue does not currently implement this).
+	// Entry() should not be used after this call.
+	FreeEntries()
 }
 
 // Outputs can provide an EncoderFactory to enable early encoding, in which