diff --git a/llama/runner/runner.go b/llama/runner/runner.go
index e65bd637..c034bc46 100644
--- a/llama/runner/runner.go
+++ b/llama/runner/runner.go
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ import (
 	"time"
 	"unicode/utf8"
 
+	"golang.org/x/sync/semaphore"
+
 	"github.com/ollama/ollama/api"
 	"github.com/ollama/ollama/llama"
 )
@@ -203,38 +205,51 @@ func (s *Server) inputs(prompt string, images []ImageData) ([]input, error) {
 }
 
 type Server struct {
-	model *llama.Model
-	lc    *llama.Context
+	// is the server ready to process requests?
+	// protects access to model and image
+	ready sync.WaitGroup
 
-	// required for image embeddings
+	// loaded model
+	model *llama.Model
+
+	// image model context for multi-modal models
 	image *ImageContext
 
+	// status for external health reporting - loading, ready to serve, etc.
+	status ServerStatus
+
+	// current progress on loading the model
+	progress float32
+
+	// number of simultaneous requests to handle
+	parallel int
+
+	// maximum number of elements in a batch (per sequence)
 	// TODO (jmorganca): make this n_batch
 	batchSize int
 
-	// parallel is the number of parallel requests to handle
-	parallel int
+	// protects access to everything below this line
+	// this is context state needed for decoding
+	mu sync.Mutex
 
-	// seqs is the list of parallel sequences being evaluated
-	// TODO (jmorganca): this can probably be moved into run()
+	// indicates that data is ready for processing
+	cond *sync.Cond
+
+	// decoding state
+	lc *llama.Context
+
+	// the list of simultaneous sequences being evaluated
 	seqs []*Sequence
 
+	// seqs can have a maximum of parallel entries, which
+	// is enfoced by seqSem
+	seqsSem *semaphore.Weighted
+
 	// KV cache
 	cache *InputCache
 
 	// next sequence for prompt processing to avoid starvation
 	nextSeq int
-
-	// is the server ready to process requests?
-	ready sync.WaitGroup
-
-	mu sync.Mutex
-
-	cond *sync.Cond
-
-	progress float32
-
-	status ServerStatus
 }
 
 func (s *Server) allNil() bool {
@@ -616,8 +631,13 @@ func (s *Server) completion(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	// TODO (jmorganca): add to sequence queue instead of
-	// failing if a slot isn't available
+	// Ensure that a place to put the sequence is available
+	if err := s.seqsSem.Acquire(r.Context(), 1); err != nil {
+		slog.Error("Failed to acquire semaphore", "error", err)
+		return
+	}
+	defer s.seqsSem.Release(1)
+
 	s.mu.Lock()
 	for i, sq := range s.seqs {
 		if sq == nil {
@@ -700,7 +720,13 @@ func (s *Server) embeddings(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	// TODO (jessegross): Wait for a free slot instead of failing and blocking forever
+	// Ensure that a place to put the sequence is available
+	if err := s.seqsSem.Acquire(r.Context(), 1); err != nil {
+		slog.Error("Failed to acquire semaphore", "error", err)
+		return
+	}
+	defer s.seqsSem.Release(1)
+
 	s.mu.Lock()
 	for i, sq := range s.seqs {
 		if sq == nil {
@@ -855,6 +881,7 @@ func main() {
 		batchSize: *batchSize,
 		parallel:  *parallel,
 		seqs:      make([]*Sequence, *parallel),
+		seqsSem:   semaphore.NewWeighted(int64(*parallel)),
 		status:    ServerStatusLoadingModel,
 	}