diff --git a/lib/racecar/config.rb b/lib/racecar/config.rb
index bac42dd5..17039f09 100644
--- a/lib/racecar/config.rb
+++ b/lib/racecar/config.rb
@@ -185,6 +185,9 @@ class Config < KingKonf::Config
     desc "Used only by the liveness probe: Max time (in seconds) between liveness events before the process is considered not healthy"
     integer :liveness_probe_max_interval, default: 5
 
+    desc "Strategy for switching topics when there are multiple subscriptions. `exhaust-topic` will only switch when the consumer poll returns no messages. `round-robin` will switch after each poll regardless.\nWarning: `round-robin` will be the default in Racecar 3.x"
+    string :multi_subscription_strategy, allowed_values: %w(round-robin exhaust-topic), default: "exhaust-topic"
+
     # The error handler must be set directly on the object.
     attr_reader :error_handler
 
diff --git a/lib/racecar/consumer_set.rb b/lib/racecar/consumer_set.rb
index 275996df..a3428102 100644
--- a/lib/racecar/consumer_set.rb
+++ b/lib/racecar/consumer_set.rb
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ def poll_with_retries(max_wait_time_ms)
 
     # polls a message for the current consumer, handling any API edge cases.
     def poll_current_consumer(max_wait_time_ms)
+      @last_poll_read_nil_message = false
       msg = current.poll(max_wait_time_ms)
     rescue Rdkafka::RdkafkaError => e
       case e.code
@@ -212,9 +213,14 @@ def reset_current_consumer
     end
 
     def maybe_select_next_consumer
-      return unless @last_poll_read_nil_message
-      @last_poll_read_nil_message = false
-      select_next_consumer
+      case @config.multi_subscription_strategy
+      when "round-robin"
+        select_next_consumer
+      else # "exhaust-topic"
+        if @last_poll_read_nil_message
+          select_next_consumer
+        end
+      end
     end
 
     def select_next_consumer
diff --git a/spec/consumer_set_spec.rb b/spec/consumer_set_spec.rb
index 981aa018..b14244ca 100644
--- a/spec/consumer_set_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/consumer_set_spec.rb
@@ -572,5 +572,59 @@ def message_generator(messages)
       count.times { polled += consumer_set.batch_poll(100) rescue [] }
       expect(polled).to eq [:msg1, :msg1, :msg1, :msgN, :msgN, :msgN]
     end
+
+    context "when multiple consumers are configured as 'round-robin'" do
+      before do
+        config.multi_subscription_strategy = "round-robin"
+        allow(rdconsumer1).to receive(:poll).and_return(topic1_message)
+        allow(rdconsumer2).to receive(:poll).and_return(topic2_message)
+        allow(rdconsumer3).to receive(:poll).and_return(topic3_message)
+      end
+
+      let(:config) { Racecar::Config.new }
+      let(:interval) { 1000.0 }
+      let(:topic1_message) { double(:topic1_message) }
+      let(:topic2_message) { double(:topic2_message) }
+      let(:topic3_message) { double(:topic3_message) }
+
+
+      describe "#poll" do
+        it "consumes 1 message from each topic in turn" do
+          messages = 6.times.map {
+            consumer_set.poll(interval)
+          }
+
+          expect(messages).to eq([
+            topic1_message,
+            topic2_message,
+            topic3_message,
+            topic1_message,
+            topic2_message,
+            topic3_message,
+          ])
+        end
+      end
+
+      describe "#batch_poll" do
+        before do
+          config.fetch_messages = 1
+        end
+
+        it "consumes 1 batch from each topic in turn" do
+          messages = 6.times.map {
+            consumer_set.batch_poll(interval)
+          }
+
+          expect(messages).to eq([
+            [topic1_message],
+            [topic2_message],
+            [topic3_message],
+            [topic1_message],
+            [topic2_message],
+            [topic3_message],
+          ])
+        end
+      end
+    end
   end
 end