diff --git a/api/resolvers/wallet.js b/api/resolvers/wallet.js
index daa41ab8..296516a9 100644
--- a/api/resolvers/wallet.js
+++ b/api/resolvers/wallet.js
@@ -647,14 +647,21 @@ async function upsertWallet (
   }
 
   const { id, ...walletData } = data
-  const { autoWithdrawThreshold, autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent, enabled, priority } = settings
+  const {
+    autoWithdrawThreshold,
+    autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent,
+    autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee,
+    enabled,
+    priority
+  } = settings
 
   const txs = [
     models.user.update({
       where: { id: me.id },
       data: {
         autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent,
-        autoWithdrawThreshold
+        autoWithdrawThreshold,
+        autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee
       }
     })
   ]
diff --git a/api/typeDefs/user.js b/api/typeDefs/user.js
index 0f208951..39f417a8 100644
--- a/api/typeDefs/user.js
+++ b/api/typeDefs/user.js
@@ -182,6 +182,7 @@ export default gql`
     withdrawMaxFeeDefault: Int!
     autoWithdrawThreshold: Int
     autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent: Float
+    autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee: Int
   }
 
   type UserOptional {
diff --git a/api/typeDefs/wallet.js b/api/typeDefs/wallet.js
index d87af0e0..12e5e4be 100644
--- a/api/typeDefs/wallet.js
+++ b/api/typeDefs/wallet.js
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ const typeDefs = `
   input AutowithdrawSettings {
     autoWithdrawThreshold: Int!
     autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent: Float!
+    autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee: Int!
     priority: Int
     enabled: Boolean
   }
diff --git a/components/autowithdraw-shared.js b/components/autowithdraw-shared.js
index de8323f7..cc02b4b1 100644
--- a/components/autowithdraw-shared.js
+++ b/components/autowithdraw-shared.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { useMe } from './me'
 import { useEffect, useState } from 'react'
 import { isNumber } from '@/lib/validate'
 import { useIsClient } from './use-client'
+import Link from 'next/link'
 
 function autoWithdrawThreshold ({ me }) {
   return isNumber(me?.privates?.autoWithdrawThreshold) ? me?.privates?.autoWithdrawThreshold : 10000
@@ -12,7 +13,8 @@ function autoWithdrawThreshold ({ me }) {
 export function autowithdrawInitial ({ me }) {
   return {
     autoWithdrawThreshold: autoWithdrawThreshold({ me }),
-    autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent: isNumber(me?.privates?.autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent) ? me?.privates?.autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent : 1
+    autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent: isNumber(me?.privates?.autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent) ? me?.privates?.autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent : 1,
+    autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee: isNumber(me?.privates?.autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee) ? me?.privates?.autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee : 1
   }
 }
 
@@ -51,13 +53,30 @@ export function AutowithdrawSettings ({ wallet }) {
             append={<InputGroup.Text className='text-monospace'>sats</InputGroup.Text>}
             required
           />
+          <h3 className='text-center text-muted pt-3'>network fees</h3>
+          <h6 className='text-center pb-3'>
+            the setting that allows a higher max fee will be used during{' '}
+            <Link
+              target='_blank'
+              href='https://docs.lightning.engineering/the-lightning-network/pathfinding'
+              rel='noreferrer'
+            >pathfinding
+            </Link>
+          </h6>
           <Input
-            label='max fee'
+            label='max fee rate'
             name='autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent'
             hint='max fee as percent of withdrawal amount'
             append={<InputGroup.Text>%</InputGroup.Text>}
             required
           />
+          <Input
+            label='max base fee'
+            name='autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee'
+            hint='max fee for any withdrawal amount'
+            append={<InputGroup.Text className='text-monospace'>sats</InputGroup.Text>}
+            required
+          />
         </div>
       </div>
     </>
diff --git a/fragments/users.js b/fragments/users.js
index 26d92144..11d592d8 100644
--- a/fragments/users.js
+++ b/fragments/users.js
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ ${STREAK_FIELDS}
       noReferralLinks
       fiatCurrency
       autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent
+      autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee
       autoWithdrawThreshold
       withdrawMaxFeeDefault
       satsFilter
diff --git a/lib/validate.js b/lib/validate.js
index 9c53047f..02705088 100644
--- a/lib/validate.js
+++ b/lib/validate.js
@@ -366,7 +366,8 @@ export function advSchema (args) {
 export const autowithdrawSchemaMembers = {
   enabled: boolean(),
   autoWithdrawThreshold: intValidator.required('required').min(0, 'must be at least 0').max(msatsToSats(BALANCE_LIMIT_MSATS), `must be at most ${abbrNum(msatsToSats(BALANCE_LIMIT_MSATS))}`),
-  autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent: floatValidator.required('required').min(0, 'must be at least 0').max(50, 'must not exceed 50')
+  autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent: floatValidator.required('required').min(0, 'must be at least 0').max(50, 'must not exceed 50'),
+  autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee: intValidator.required('required').min(0, 'must be at least 0').max(1_000, 'must not exceed 1000')
 }
 
 export const lnAddrAutowithdrawSchema = object({
diff --git a/prisma/migrations/20241018160708_max_base_fee/migration.sql b/prisma/migrations/20241018160708_max_base_fee/migration.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..23381126
--- /dev/null
+++ b/prisma/migrations/20241018160708_max_base_fee/migration.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+-- AlterTable
+ALTER TABLE "users" ADD COLUMN     "autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee" INTEGER;
+
+-- set max_base_fee for users with autowithdrawals enabled to not interfere with them.
+-- we set it to 0 instead of 1 because that preserves old behavior.
+UPDATE "users"
+SET "autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee" = 0
+WHERE "autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent" IS NOT NULL;
diff --git a/prisma/schema.prisma b/prisma/schema.prisma
index 7a629e44..cb3162e2 100644
--- a/prisma/schema.prisma
+++ b/prisma/schema.prisma
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ model User {
   lnAddr                    String?
   autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent Float?
   autoWithdrawThreshold     Int?
+  autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee    Int?
   muters                    Mute[]               @relation("muter")
   muteds                    Mute[]               @relation("muted")
   ArcOut                    Arc[]                @relation("fromUser")
diff --git a/wallets/index.js b/wallets/index.js
index fee17703..0333becd 100644
--- a/wallets/index.js
+++ b/wallets/index.js
@@ -296,6 +296,7 @@ function useServerConfig (wallet) {
   const saveConfig = useCallback(async ({
     autoWithdrawThreshold,
     autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent,
+    autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee,
     priority,
     enabled,
     ...config
@@ -310,6 +311,7 @@ function useServerConfig (wallet) {
           settings: {
             autoWithdrawThreshold: Number(autoWithdrawThreshold),
             autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent: Number(autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent),
+            autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee: Number(autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee),
             priority,
             enabled
           },
diff --git a/worker/autowithdraw.js b/worker/autowithdraw.js
index ef8d49e3..0589159a 100644
--- a/worker/autowithdraw.js
+++ b/worker/autowithdraw.js
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@ import { createInvoice } from 'wallets/server'
 
 export async function autoWithdraw ({ data: { id }, models, lnd }) {
   const user = await models.user.findUnique({ where: { id } })
-  if (user.autoWithdrawThreshold === null || user.autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent === null) return
+  if (
+    user.autoWithdrawThreshold === null ||
+    user.autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent === null ||
+    user.autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee === null) return
 
   const threshold = satsToMsats(user.autoWithdrawThreshold)
   const excess = Number(user.msats - threshold)
@@ -13,7 +16,10 @@ export async function autoWithdraw ({ data: { id }, models, lnd }) {
   if (excess < Number(threshold) * 0.1) return
 
   // floor fee to nearest sat but still denominated in msats
-  const maxFeeMsats = msatsSatsFloor(Math.ceil(excess * (user.autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent / 100.0)))
+  const maxFeeMsats = msatsSatsFloor(Math.max(
+    Math.ceil(excess * (user.autoWithdrawMaxFeePercent / 100.0)),
+    Number(satsToMsats(user.autoWithdrawMaxBaseFee))
+  ))
   // msats will be floored by createInvoice if it needs to be
   const msats = BigInt(excess) - maxFeeMsats