diff --git a/src/switch_utils.c b/src/switch_utils.c
index 7d6fc21f55..3b9ad79c2f 100644
--- a/src/switch_utils.c
+++ b/src/switch_utils.c
@@ -465,6 +465,10 @@ SWITCH_DECLARE(switch_status_t) switch_b64_encode(unsigned char *in, switch_size
 	for (x = 0; x < ilen; x++) {
 		b = (b << 8) + in[x];
 		l += 8;
+
+		if ((X % 1024) == 0) {
+			switch_cond_next(); /* give other processes/threads a chance */
+		}
 		while (l >= 6) {
 			out[bytes++] = switch_b64_table[(b >> (l -= 6)) % 64];
 			if (++y != 72) {
@@ -641,6 +645,7 @@ SWITCH_DECLARE(switch_bool_t) switch_simple_email(const char *to,
 			}
 
 			while ((ilen = read(ifd, in, B64BUFFLEN))) {
+				switch_cond_next(); /* give other processes/threads a chance */
 				for (x = 0; x < ilen; x++) {
 					b = (b << 8) + in[x];
 					l += 8;