diff --git a/datastore/threadproxyds.nim b/datastore/threadproxyds.nim
index f77e8b7..205418e 100644
--- a/datastore/threadproxyds.nim
+++ b/datastore/threadproxyds.nim
@@ -195,6 +195,8 @@ method close*(
 
   self[].tds[].ds = nil # ensure our sharedptr doesn't try and dealloc
   self.tds.release()
+  echo "close done"
+  # dispose(dsCell)
 
 proc newThreadProxyDatastore*(
   ds: Datastore,
@@ -203,7 +205,8 @@ proc newThreadProxyDatastore*(
 
   var self = ThreadProxyDatastore()
   var value = newSharedPtr(ThreadDatastore)
-  # GC_ref(ds) ## TODO: is this needed?
+  # let dsCell = protect(cast[pointer](ds))
+  GC_ref(ds) ## TODO: is this needed?
 
   try:
     value[].ds = ds
diff --git a/tests/datastore/testthreadproxyds.nim b/tests/datastore/testthreadproxyds.nim
index 6584d86..7f36d08 100644
--- a/tests/datastore/testthreadproxyds.nim
+++ b/tests/datastore/testthreadproxyds.nim
@@ -16,38 +16,32 @@ import ./querycommontests
 
 import pretty
 
-proc threadTest() =
-  suite "Test Basic ThreadProxyDatastore":
-    var
-      sds: ThreadProxyDatastore
-      mem: MemoryDatastore
-      key1: Key
-      data: seq[byte]
+suite "Test Basic ThreadProxyDatastore":
+  var
+    sds: ThreadProxyDatastore
+    mem: MemoryDatastore
+    key1: Key
+    data: seq[byte]
 
-    setupAll:
-      mem = MemoryDatastore.new()
-      sds = newThreadProxyDatastore(mem).expect("should work")
-      key1 = Key.init("/a").tryGet
-      data = "value for 1".toBytes()
-    
-    teardownAll:
-      let res = await sds.close()
-      res.get()
+  setupAll:
+    mem = MemoryDatastore.new()
+    sds = newThreadProxyDatastore(mem).expect("should work")
+    key1 = Key.init("/a").tryGet
+    data = "value for 1".toBytes()
+  
+  teardownAll:
+    let res = await sds.close()
+    res.get()
+    echo "teardown done"
 
-    test "check put":
-      # echo "\n\n=== put ==="
-      let res1 = await sds.put(key1, data)
-      print "res1: ", res1
-      check res1.isOk
-      # GC_fullCollect()
+  test "check put":
+    # echo "\n\n=== put ==="
+    let res1 = await sds.put(key1, data)
+    print "res1: ", res1
+    check res1.isOk
 
-proc main() =
-  threadTest()
-  # GC_fullCollect()
-
-main()
-# GC_fullCollect()
 
+# GC_fullCollect() # this fails due to MemoryStore already being freed...
 
 #   test "check get":
 #     # echo "\n\n=== get ==="