diff --git a/src/util/util.go b/src/util/util.go
index 49e0207..94bd5d6 100644
--- a/src/util/util.go
+++ b/src/util/util.go
@@ -48,13 +48,12 @@ func PutBytes(bs []byte) {
 
 // This is a workaround to go's broken timer implementation
 func TimerStop(t *time.Timer) bool {
-	if !t.Stop() {
-		select {
-		case <-t.C:
-		default:
-		}
+	stopped := t.Stop()
+	select {
+	case <-t.C:
+	default:
 	}
-	return true
+	return stopped
 }
 
 // Run a blocking function with a timeout.
diff --git a/src/yggdrasil/conn.go b/src/yggdrasil/conn.go
index 5c71bb9..aad1dcd 100644
--- a/src/yggdrasil/conn.go
+++ b/src/yggdrasil/conn.go
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ func (c *Conn) startSearch() {
 }
 
 func getDeadlineTimer(value *atomic.Value) *time.Timer {
-	timer := time.NewTimer(0)
+	timer := time.NewTimer(24 * 365 * time.Hour) // FIXME for some reason setting this to 0 doesn't always let it stop and drain the channel correctly
 	util.TimerStop(timer)
 	if deadline, ok := value.Load().(time.Time); ok {
 		timer.Reset(time.Until(deadline))