diff --git a/beeflow/common/config_driver.py b/beeflow/common/config_driver.py
index 554bcfd1..18239e41 100644
--- a/beeflow/common/config_driver.py
+++ b/beeflow/common/config_driver.py
@@ -281,6 +281,8 @@ def filepath_completion_input(*pargs, **kwargs):
 # Task manager
 VALIDATOR.section('task_manager',
                   info='Task manager configuration and config of container to use.')
+VALIDATOR.option('task_manager', 'jobs_limit', default='', prompt=True,
+                 info='The number of jobs that can be in the job queue.')
 VALIDATOR.option('task_manager', 'container_runtime', default='Charliecloud',
                  choices=('Charliecloud', 'Singularity'), prompt=False,
                  info='container runtime to use for configuration')
diff --git a/beeflow/task_manager/background.py b/beeflow/task_manager/background.py
index 58da8003..3e59e41e 100644
--- a/beeflow/task_manager/background.py
+++ b/beeflow/task_manager/background.py
@@ -5,19 +5,29 @@
 """
 import traceback
 import jsonpickle
+from beeflow.common.config_driver import BeeConfig as bc
 from beeflow.task_manager import utils
 from beeflow.common import log as bee_logging
 from beeflow.common.build.utils import ContainerBuildError
 from beeflow.common.build_interfaces import build_main
 from beeflow.common.worker import WorkerError
 
-
+JOBS_MAX = 1000
 log = bee_logging.setup(__name__)
+jobs_limit = bc.get('task_manager', 'jobs_limit')
+if not jobs_limit:
+    jobs_limit = JOBS_MAX
+else:
+    try:
+        jobs_limit = int(jobs_limit)
+    except ValueError:
+        log.info(f'Value for jobs_limit in bee.conf not an integer, setting it to {JOBS_MAX}')
+        jobs_limit = JOBS_MAX
+log.info(f'The number of jobs queued will be limited to {jobs_limit}.')
 
 # States are based on https://slurm.schedmd.com/squeue.html#SECTION_JOB-STATE-CODES
 COMPLETED_STATES = {'UNKNOWN', 'COMPLETED', 'CANCELLED', 'FAILED', 'TIMEOUT', 'TIMELIMIT'}
 
-
 def resolve_environment(task):
     """Use build interface to create a valid environment.
 
@@ -57,7 +67,7 @@ def submit_task(db, worker, task):
 def submit_jobs(db):
     """Submit all jobs currently in submit queue to the workload scheduler."""
     worker = utils.worker_interface()
-    while db.submit_queue.count() >= 1:
+    while db.submit_queue.count() >= 1 and db.job_queue.count() < jobs_limit:
         # Single value dictionary
         task = db.submit_queue.pop()
         job_state = submit_task(db, worker, task)
diff --git a/beeflow/wf_manager/resources/wf_utils.py b/beeflow/wf_manager/resources/wf_utils.py
index ced30eb8..b540c939 100644
--- a/beeflow/wf_manager/resources/wf_utils.py
+++ b/beeflow/wf_manager/resources/wf_utils.py
@@ -209,8 +209,12 @@ def submit_tasks_tm(wf_id, tasks, allocation):
     except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError:
         log.error('Unable to connect to task manager to submit tasks.')
         return
-
-    if resp.status_code != 200:
+    # Change state of any tasks sent to the submit queue
+    if resp.status_code == 200:
+        for task in tasks:
+            log.info(f"change state of {task.name} to SUBMIT")
+            wfi.set_task_state(task, 'SUBMIT')
+    else:
         log.info(f"Submit task to TM returned bad status: {resp.status_code}")