diff --git a/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/spi/v1/AtomicRoundRobin.java b/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/spi/v1/AtomicRoundRobin.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4a2eac8f3161
--- /dev/null
+++ b/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/spi/v1/AtomicRoundRobin.java
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2017 Google Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package com.google.cloud.pubsub.spi.v1;
+
+import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting;
+import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
+
+/** Provides a simplistic round robin, guarding for overflow. */
+class AtomicRoundRobin {
+  private final int max;
+  private final AtomicInteger current;
+
+  AtomicRoundRobin(int max) {
+    Preconditions.checkArgument(max > 0);
+    this.max = max;
+    current = new AtomicInteger(0);
+  }
+
+  int next() {
+    int next = current.getAndIncrement() % max;
+    if (next < 0) {
+      next += max;
+    }
+    return next;
+  }
+
+  @VisibleForTesting
+  void set(int i) {
+    current.set(i);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/spi/v1/Publisher.java b/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/spi/v1/Publisher.java
index fc7137b3909b..ad1d7af7c5bc 100644
--- a/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/spi/v1/Publisher.java
+++ b/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/spi/v1/Publisher.java
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.ThreadLocalRandom;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
-import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.Lock;
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantLock;
 import org.joda.time.Duration;
@@ -139,7 +138,7 @@ public static long getApiMaxBundleBytes() {
 
   private final FlowController flowController;
   private final Channel[] channels;
-  private final AtomicInteger channelIndex;
+  private final AtomicRoundRobin channelIndex;
   private final CallCredentials credentials;
 
   private final ScheduledExecutorService executor;
@@ -171,7 +170,7 @@ private Publisher(Builder builder) throws IOException {
                     .setNameFormat("cloud-pubsub-publisher-thread-%d")
                     .build());
     channels = new Channel[numCores];
-    channelIndex = new AtomicInteger(0);
+    channelIndex = new AtomicRoundRobin(channels.length);
     for (int i = 0; i < numCores; i++) {
       channels[i] =
           builder.channelBuilder.isPresent()
@@ -334,7 +333,8 @@ private void publishOutstandingBundle(final OutstandingBundle outstandingBundle)
     for (OutstandingPublish outstandingPublish : outstandingBundle.outstandingPublishes) {
       publishRequest.addMessages(outstandingPublish.message);
     }
-    int currentChannel = channelIndex.getAndIncrement() % channels.length;
+
+    int currentChannel = channelIndex.next();
 
     long rpcTimeoutMs =
         Math.round(
diff --git a/google-cloud-pubsub/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/spi/v1/AtomicRoundRobinTest.java b/google-cloud-pubsub/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/spi/v1/AtomicRoundRobinTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3bc4411eaa7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/google-cloud-pubsub/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/spi/v1/AtomicRoundRobinTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 Google Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package com.google.cloud.pubsub.spi.v1;
+
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class AtomicRoundRobinTest {
+  @Test
+  public void testNext() {
+    AtomicRoundRobin roundRobin = new AtomicRoundRobin(3);
+    Assert.assertEquals(0, roundRobin.next());
+    Assert.assertEquals(1, roundRobin.next());
+    Assert.assertEquals(2, roundRobin.next());
+    Assert.assertEquals(0, roundRobin.next());
+    Assert.assertEquals(1, roundRobin.next());
+    Assert.assertEquals(2, roundRobin.next());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testOverflow() {
+    AtomicRoundRobin roundRobin = new AtomicRoundRobin(3);
+    roundRobin.set(Integer.MAX_VALUE);
+    Assert.assertTrue(roundRobin.next() >= 0);
+    Assert.assertTrue(roundRobin.next() >= 0);
+  }
+}