diff --git a/libp2p/muxers/mplex/lpchannel.nim b/libp2p/muxers/mplex/lpchannel.nim
index 1a4a26b32..88c46cbec 100644
--- a/libp2p/muxers/mplex/lpchannel.nim
+++ b/libp2p/muxers/mplex/lpchannel.nim
@@ -160,10 +160,12 @@ method readOnce*(s: LPChannel,
     raise exc
 
 method write*(s: LPChannel, msg: seq[byte]): Future[void] {.async.} =
-  if s.closedLocal:
+  if s.closedLocal or s.conn.closed:
     raise newLPStreamClosedError()
 
-  doAssert msg.len > 0
+  if msg.len == 0:
+    return
+
   try:
     if not s.isOpen:
       await s.open()
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/identify.nim b/libp2p/protocols/identify.nim
index 8a5aa273a..9af145eae 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/identify.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/identify.nim
@@ -105,10 +105,6 @@ proc newIdentify*(peerInfo: PeerInfo): Identify =
 method init*(p: Identify) =
   proc handle(conn: Connection, proto: string) {.async, gcsafe, closure.} =
     try:
-      defer:
-        trace "exiting identify handler", conn
-        await conn.close()
-
       trace "handling identify request", conn
       var pb = encodeMsg(p.peerInfo, conn.observedAddr)
       await conn.writeLp(pb.buffer)
@@ -116,6 +112,9 @@ method init*(p: Identify) =
       raise exc
     except CatchableError as exc:
       trace "exception in identify handler", exc = exc.msg, conn
+    finally:
+      trace "exiting identify handler", conn
+      await conn.closeWithEOF()
 
   p.handler = handle
   p.codec = IdentifyCodec
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
index c840c85f9..48dc28066 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ method handleConn*(p: PubSub,
   except CatchableError as exc:
     trace "exception ocurred in pubsub handle", exc = exc.msg, conn
   finally:
-    await conn.close()
+    await conn.closeWithEOF()
 
 method subscribePeer*(p: PubSub, peer: PeerID) {.base.} =
   ## subscribe to remote peer to receive/send pubsub
diff --git a/libp2p/stream/chronosstream.nim b/libp2p/stream/chronosstream.nim
index 7250c13d7..b8f442fa1 100644
--- a/libp2p/stream/chronosstream.nim
+++ b/libp2p/stream/chronosstream.nim
@@ -76,14 +76,16 @@ method write*(s: ChronosStream, msg: seq[byte]) {.async.} =
     return
 
   withExceptions:
-    var written = 0
-    while not s.client.closed and written < msg.len:
-      written += await s.client.write(msg[written..<msg.len])
-      s.activity = true # reset activity flag
+    # StreamTransport will only return written < msg.len on fatal failures where
+    # further writing is not possible - in such cases, we'll raise here,
+    # since we don't return partial writes lengths
+    var written = await s.client.write(msg)
 
     if written < msg.len:
       raise (ref LPStreamClosedError)(msg: "Write couldn't finish writing")
 
+    s.activity = true # reset activity flag
+
 method closed*(s: ChronosStream): bool {.inline.} =
   result = s.client.closed
 
diff --git a/libp2p/stream/lpstream.nim b/libp2p/stream/lpstream.nim
index 24446ce29..c19760c4a 100644
--- a/libp2p/stream/lpstream.nim
+++ b/libp2p/stream/lpstream.nim
@@ -229,3 +229,22 @@ method close*(s: LPStream): Future[void] {.base, async.} = # {.raises [Defect].}
   # override `closeImpl`, it is called only once - anyone overriding `close`
   # itself must implement this - once-only check as well, with their own field
   await closeImpl(s)
+
+proc closeWithEOF*(s: LPStream): Future[void] {.async.} =
+  ## Close the stream and wait for EOF - use this with half-closed streams where
+  ## an EOF is expected to arrive from the other end.
+  await s.close()
+
+  if s.atEof():
+    return
+
+  try:
+    var buf: array[8, byte]
+    if (await readOnce(s, addr buf[0], buf.len)) != 0:
+      debug "Unexpected bytes while waiting for EOF", s
+  except LPStreamEOFError:
+    trace "Expected EOF came", s
+  except CancelledError as exc:
+    raise exc
+  except CatchableError as exc:
+    debug "Unexpected error while waiting for EOF", s, msg = exc.msg
diff --git a/libp2p/switch.nim b/libp2p/switch.nim
index 6d47e5415..3acc5071e 100644
--- a/libp2p/switch.nim
+++ b/libp2p/switch.nim
@@ -137,14 +137,13 @@ proc identify(s: Switch, conn: Connection) {.async, gcsafe.} =
 proc identify(s: Switch, muxer: Muxer) {.async, gcsafe.} =
   # new stream for identify
   var stream = await muxer.newStream()
+  if stream == nil:
+    return
 
-  defer:
-    if not(isNil(stream)):
-      await stream.close() # close identify stream
-
-  # do identify first, so that we have a
-  # PeerInfo in case we didn't before
-  await s.identify(stream)
+  try:
+    await s.identify(stream)
+  finally:
+    await stream.closeWithEOF()
 
 proc mux(s: Switch, conn: Connection): Future[Muxer] {.async, gcsafe.} =
   ## mux incoming connection
@@ -361,7 +360,7 @@ proc negotiateStream(s: Switch, conn: Connection, protos: seq[string]): Future[C
   trace "Negotiating stream", conn, protos
   let selected = await s.ms.select(conn, protos)
   if not protos.contains(selected):
-    await conn.close()
+    await conn.closeWithEOF()
     raise newException(DialFailedError, "Unable to select sub-protocol " & $protos)
 
   return conn
@@ -392,7 +391,7 @@ proc dial*(s: Switch,
 
   proc cleanup() {.async.} =
     if not(isNil(stream)):
-      await stream.close()
+      await stream.closeWithEOF()
 
     if not(isNil(conn)):
       await conn.close()
@@ -561,7 +560,7 @@ proc newSwitch*(peerInfo: PeerInfo,
     except CatchableError as exc:
       trace "exception in stream handler", conn, msg = exc.msg
     finally:
-      await conn.close()
+      await conn.closeWithEOF()
     trace "Stream handler done", conn
 
   switch.mount(identity)