A consumer repeatedly fails to process a small number of malformed SQS messages, blocking the queue and generating reprocessing noise. What is the standard mechanism to isolate these messages for later analysis?
A.Increase the visibility timeout to a week
A longer visibility timeout delays redelivery but keeps bad messages cycling forever.
B.Configure a dead-letter queue with a maxReceiveCount redrive policy
Correct. DLQ + redrive policy is the standard poison-message pattern.
C.Delete the source queue and recreate it daily
Recreating queues discards in-flight messages and is not a control mechanism.
D.Convert the queue from standard to FIFO
FIFO ordering does not remove malformed messages.
Why this answer
A dead-letter queue (DLQ) with a redrive policy moves a message aside after it has been received more than maxReceiveCount times, so poison messages stop blocking the main queue and can be inspected or replayed later.
Correct answer: B · Last reviewed 2026-10-25
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