diff --git a/src/internal/operators/observeOn.ts b/src/internal/operators/observeOn.ts
index 0eeb52becc..049c8b0326 100644
--- a/src/internal/operators/observeOn.ts
+++ b/src/internal/operators/observeOn.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
 /** @prettier */
-import { Subscriber } from '../Subscriber';
-import { Subscription } from '../Subscription';
 import { MonoTypeOperatorFunction, SchedulerLike } from '../types';
 import { operate } from '../util/lift';
 import { OperatorSubscriber } from './OperatorSubscriber';
@@ -52,44 +50,58 @@ import { OperatorSubscriber } from './OperatorSubscriber';
  *
  * @see {@link delay}
  *
- * @param {SchedulerLike} scheduler Scheduler that will be used to reschedule notifications from source Observable.
- * @param {number} [delay] Number of milliseconds that states with what delay every notification should be rescheduled.
+ * @param scheduler Scheduler that will be used to reschedule notifications from source Observable.
+ * @param delay Number of milliseconds that states with what delay every notification should be rescheduled.
  * @return A function that returns an Observable that emits the same
  * notifications as the source Observable, but with provided scheduler.
  */
-export function observeOn<T>(scheduler: SchedulerLike, delay: number = 0): MonoTypeOperatorFunction<T> {
-  function dispatch(sub: Subscriber<any>, act: () => void) {
-    const context: { subscription: Subscription | null; sync: boolean } = { sync: false, subscription: null };
-    context.subscription = scheduler.schedule(
-      (state) => {
-        act();
-        const { subscription } = state;
-        state.subscription = null;
-
-        if (subscription) {
-          subscription.unsubscribe();
-          sub.remove(subscription);
+export function observeOn<T>(scheduler: SchedulerLike, delay = 0): MonoTypeOperatorFunction<T> {
+  return operate((source, subscriber) => {
+    /**
+     * Executes work with the provided scheduler and provided delay.
+     * This exists primarily to manage the Actions being scheduled to make
+     * sure they are removed from the parent Subscription.
+     * Actions will be retained in memory until the parent Subscription finalizes
+     * because they could be rescheduled at any time. We know the
+     * actions in this operator are NOT going to be rescheduled, so
+     * we want to make sure they're removed as soon as possible.
+     * @param execute The work to schedule with the scheduler provided
+     */
+    const schedule = (execute: () => void) => {
+      let syncUnsub = false;
+      const actionSubs = scheduler.schedule(() => {
+        if (actionSubs) {
+          // The action fired asynchronously, so we have a subscription
+          // we can unsubscribe before continuing. Unsubscription will
+          // remove the Action/Subscription from the parent (subscriber).
+          actionSubs.unsubscribe();
         } else {
-          state.sync = true;
+          // The action fired synchronously, so we don't have a
+          // subscription we can unsubscribe just yet. Flag that
+          // we want to unsubscribe when we do get it.
+          syncUnsub = true;
         }
-      },
-      delay,
-      context
-    );
+        // Execute the work required.
+        execute();
+      }, delay);
+
+      if (syncUnsub) {
+        // The action above fired synchronously, so we can tear it down.
+        actionSubs.unsubscribe();
+      } else {
+        // The action hasn't fired yet. It's asynchronous. So we should
+        // add it to our subscriber, which is the parent Subscription,
+        // so it is unsubscribed if our consumer unsubscribes.
+        subscriber.add(actionSubs);
+      }
+    };
 
-    if (!context.sync) {
-      sub.add(context.subscription);
-    } else {
-      context.subscription.unsubscribe();
-    }
-  }
-  return operate((source, subscriber) => {
     source.subscribe(
       new OperatorSubscriber(
         subscriber,
-        (value) => dispatch(subscriber, () => subscriber.next(value)),
-        () => dispatch(subscriber, () => subscriber.complete()),
-        (err) => dispatch(subscriber, () => subscriber.error(err))
+        (value) => schedule(() => subscriber.next(value)),
+        () => schedule(() => subscriber.complete()),
+        (err) => schedule(() => subscriber.error(err))
       )
     );
   });