diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
index 8a32d8b..52ee8b8 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ type
     mcache*: MCache                            # messages cache
     heartbeatFut: Future[void]                 # cancellation future for heartbeat interval
     heartbeatRunning: bool
-    heartbeatLock: AsyncLock                   # heartbeat lock to prevent two consecutive concurrent heartbeats
 
 when defined(libp2p_expensive_metrics):
   declareGauge(libp2p_gossipsub_peers_per_topic_mesh,
@@ -244,7 +243,7 @@ proc heartbeat(g: GossipSub) {.async.} =
     except CancelledError as exc:
       raise exc
     except CatchableError as exc:
-      trace "exception ocurred in gossipsub heartbeat", exc = exc.msg
+      warn "exception ocurred in gossipsub heartbeat", exc = exc.msg
 
     await sleepAsync(GossipSubHeartbeatInterval)
 
@@ -527,25 +526,18 @@ method publish*(g: GossipSub,
 method start*(g: GossipSub) {.async.} =
   trace "gossipsub start"
 
-  ## start pubsub
-  ## start long running/repeating procedures
+  if not g.heartbeatFut.isNil:
+    warn "Starting gossipsub twice"
+    return
 
-  # interlock start to to avoid overlapping to stops
-  await g.heartbeatLock.acquire()
-
-  # setup the heartbeat interval
   g.heartbeatRunning = true
   g.heartbeatFut = g.heartbeat()
 
-  g.heartbeatLock.release()
-
 method stop*(g: GossipSub) {.async.} =
   trace "gossipsub stop"
-
-  ## stop pubsub
-  ## stop long running tasks
-
-  await g.heartbeatLock.acquire()
+  if g.heartbeatFut.isNil:
+    warn "Stopping gossipsub without starting it"
+    return
 
   # stop heartbeat interval
   g.heartbeatRunning = false
@@ -553,8 +545,8 @@ method stop*(g: GossipSub) {.async.} =
     trace "awaiting last heartbeat"
     await g.heartbeatFut
     trace "heartbeat stopped"
+    g.heartbeatFut = nil
 
-  g.heartbeatLock.release()
 
 method initPubSub*(g: GossipSub) =
   procCall FloodSub(g).initPubSub()
@@ -567,4 +559,3 @@ method initPubSub*(g: GossipSub) =
   g.lastFanoutPubSub = initTable[string, Moment]()  # last publish time for fanout topics
   g.gossip = initTable[string, seq[ControlIHave]]() # pending gossip
   g.control = initTable[string, ControlMessage]()   # pending control messages
-  g.heartbeatLock = newAsyncLock()
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/peertable.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/peertable.nim
index d294c01..15a1bf5 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/peertable.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/peertable.nim
@@ -14,9 +14,11 @@ type
   PeerTable* = Table[string, HashSet[PubSubPeer]] # topic string to peer map
 
 proc hasPeerID*(t: PeerTable, topic: string, peerId: PeerID): bool =
-  let peers = toSeq(t.getOrDefault(topic))
-  peers.any do (peer: PubSubPeer) -> bool:
-    peer.peerId == peerId
+  if topic in t:
+    for peer in t[topic]:
+      if peer.peerId == peerId:
+        return true
+  false
 
 func addPeer*(table: var PeerTable, topic: string, peer: PubSubPeer): bool =
   # returns true if the peer was added,
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
index 6946ca4..fed1512 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
@@ -70,11 +70,8 @@ method unsubscribePeer*(p: PubSub, peerId: PeerID) {.base.} =
 
   libp2p_pubsub_peers.set(p.peers.len.int64)
 
-proc send*(
-  p: PubSub,
-  peer: PubSubPeer,
-  msg: RPCMsg) =
-  ## send to remote peer
+proc send*(p: PubSub, peer: PubSubPeer, msg: RPCMsg) =
+  ## Attempt to send `msg` to remote peer
   ##
 
   trace "sending pubsub message to peer", peer = $peer, msg = shortLog(msg)
@@ -84,11 +81,10 @@ proc broadcast*(
   p: PubSub,
   sendPeers: openArray[PubSubPeer],
   msg: RPCMsg) = # raises: [Defect]
-  ## send messages - returns number of send attempts made.
-  ##
+  ## Attempt to send `msg` to the given peers
 
   trace "broadcasting messages to peers",
-    peers = sendPeers.len, message = shortLog(msg)
+    peers = sendPeers.len, msg = shortLog(msg)
   for peer in sendPeers:
     p.send(peer, msg)
 
@@ -201,16 +197,14 @@ method unsubscribe*(p: PubSub,
                     topics: seq[TopicPair]) {.base, async.} =
   ## unsubscribe from a list of ``topic`` strings
   for t in topics:
-    p.topics.withValue(t.topic, subs):
-      for i, h in subs[].handler:
-        if h == t.handler:
-          subs[].handler.del(i)
+    p.topics.withValue(t.topic, topic):
+      topic[].handler.keepIf(proc (x: auto): bool = x != t.handler)
+
+      if topic[].handler.len == 0:
+        # make sure we delete the topic if
+        # no more handlers are left
+        p.topics.del(t.topic)
 
-      # make sure we delete the topic if
-      # no more handlers are left
-      if subs.handler.len <= 0:
-        p.topics.del(t.topic) # careful, invalidates subs
-        # metrics
         libp2p_pubsub_topics.set(p.topics.len.int64)
 
 proc unsubscribe*(p: PubSub,
@@ -252,6 +246,10 @@ method publish*(p: PubSub,
                 topic: string,
                 data: seq[byte]): Future[int] {.base, async.} =
   ## publish to a ``topic``
+  ## The return value is the number of neighbours that we attempted to send the
+  ## message to, excluding self. Note that this is an optimistic number of
+  ## attempts - the number of peers that actually receive the message might
+  ## be lower.
   if p.triggerSelf:
     await handleData(p, topic, data)
 
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpc/message.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpc/message.nim
index e49b54d..e5d15d0 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpc/message.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/rpc/message.nim
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ declareCounter(libp2p_pubsub_sig_verify_failure, "pubsub failed validated messag
 func defaultMsgIdProvider*(m: Message): string =
   byteutils.toHex(m.seqno) & m.fromPeer.pretty
 
-proc sign*(msg: Message, p: PeerInfo): CryptoResult[seq[byte]] =
-  ok((? p.privateKey.sign(PubSubPrefix & encodeMessage(msg))).getBytes())
+proc sign*(msg: Message, privateKey: PrivateKey): CryptoResult[seq[byte]] =
+  ok((? privateKey.sign(PubSubPrefix & encodeMessage(msg))).getBytes())
 
 proc verify*(m: Message, p: PeerID): bool =
   if m.signature.len > 0 and m.key.len > 0:
@@ -63,6 +63,9 @@ proc init*(
     seqno: @(seqno.toBytesBE), # unefficient, fine for now
     topicIDs: @[topic])
 
-  if sign and peer.publicKey.isSome:
-    result.signature = sign(result, peer).tryGet()
-    result.key = peer.publicKey.get().getBytes().tryGet()
+  if sign:
+    if peer.keyType != KeyType.HasPrivate:
+      raise (ref CatchableError)(msg: "Cannot sign message without private key")
+
+    result.signature = sign(result, peer.privateKey).tryGet()
+    result.key = peer.privateKey.getKey().tryGet().getBytes().tryGet()