diff --git a/pkg/pipeline/sink/segments.go b/pkg/pipeline/sink/segments.go
index 727f772a..d000f7d4 100644
--- a/pkg/pipeline/sink/segments.go
+++ b/pkg/pipeline/sink/segments.go
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ type SegmentSink struct {
 	conf      *config.PipelineConfig
 	callbacks *gstreamer.Callbacks
 
+	segmentCount int
 	playlist     m3u8.PlaylistWriter
 	livePlaylist m3u8.PlaylistWriter
 
@@ -185,9 +186,14 @@ func (s *SegmentSink) handlePlaylistUpdates(update SegmentUpdate) error {
 	if err := s.playlist.Append(segmentStartTime, duration, update.filename); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	if err := s.uploadPlaylist(); err != nil {
-		s.callbacks.OnError(err)
+
+	s.segmentCount++
+	if s.shouldUploadPlaylist() {
+		if err := s.uploadPlaylist(); err != nil {
+			s.callbacks.OnError(err)
+		}
 	}
+
 	if s.livePlaylist != nil {
 		if err := s.livePlaylist.Append(segmentStartTime, duration, update.filename); err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -200,6 +206,14 @@ func (s *SegmentSink) handlePlaylistUpdates(update SegmentUpdate) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// Each segment adds about 100 bytes in the playlist, and long playlists can get very large.
+// Uploads every N segments, where N is the number of hours, with a minimum frequency of once per minute
+func (s *SegmentSink) shouldUploadPlaylist() bool {
+	segmentsPerHour := 3600 / s.SegmentDuration
+	frequency := min(s.segmentCount/segmentsPerHour, segmentsPerHour/60)
+	return s.segmentCount < segmentsPerHour || s.segmentCount%frequency == 0
+}
+
 func (s *SegmentSink) UpdateStartDate(t time.Time) {
 	s.segmentLock.Lock()
 	defer s.segmentLock.Unlock()