We study the variability in Mediterranean–Atlantic exchange, focusing on the surface Atlantic inflow across the mid-Pliocene warm period and the onset of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation, still unresolved by previous works. Oxygen isotope gradients between both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar reveal weak inflow during warm periods that turns stronger during severe glacials and the start of a negative feedback between exchange at the Strait and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.