diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/floodsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/floodsub.nim
index c9ca57e96..382db1fd0 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/floodsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/floodsub.nim
@@ -157,13 +157,13 @@ method unsubscribe*(f: FloodSub,
   await procCall PubSub(f).unsubscribe(topics)
 
   for p in f.peers.values:
-    await f.sendSubs(p, topics.mapIt(it.topic).deduplicate(), false)
+    discard await f.sendSubs(p, topics.mapIt(it.topic).deduplicate(), false)
 
 method unsubscribeAll*(f: FloodSub, topic: string) {.async.} =
   await procCall PubSub(f).unsubscribeAll(topic)
 
   for p in f.peers.values:
-    await f.sendSubs(p, @[topic], false)
+    discard await f.sendSubs(p, @[topic], false)
 
 method initPubSub*(f: FloodSub) =
   procCall PubSub(f).initPubSub()
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
index 468959f37..fbda35dcc 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/gossipsub.nim
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ proc heartbeat(g: GossipSub) {.async.} =
         g.replenishFanout(t)
 
       let peers = g.getGossipPeers()
-      var sent: seq[Future[void]]
+      var sent: seq[Future[bool]]
       for peer, control in peers:
         g.peers.withValue(peer.peerId, pubsubPeer) do:
           sent &= g.send(
@@ -450,10 +450,14 @@ method rpcHandler*(g: GossipSub,
         respControl.ihave.len > 0:
         try:
           info "sending control message", msg = respControl
-          await g.send(
+          let sent = await g.send(
             peer,
             RPCMsg(control: some(respControl), messages: messages),
             DefaultSendTimeout)
+
+          if not sent:
+            g.unsubscribePeer(peer.peerId)
+
         except CancelledError as exc:
           raise exc
         except CatchableError as exc:
diff --git a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
index 6bad2d85b..8c4a6dff2 100644
--- a/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
+++ b/libp2p/protocols/pubsub/pubsub.nim
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 ## those terms.
 
 import std/[tables, sequtils, sets]
-import chronos, chronicles, chronicles/chronos_tools, metrics
+import chronos, chronicles, metrics
 import pubsubpeer,
        rpc/[message, messages],
        ../../switch,
@@ -75,20 +75,20 @@ proc send*(
   p: PubSub,
   peer: PubSubPeer,
   msg: RPCMsg,
-  timeout: Duration) {.async.} =
+  timeout: Duration): Future[bool] {.async.} =
   ## send to remote peer
   ##
 
   trace "sending pubsub message to peer", peer = $peer, msg = shortLog(msg)
   try:
     await peer.send(msg, timeout)
+    return true
   except CancelledError as exc:
     raise exc
   except CatchableError as exc:
     trace "exception sending pubsub message to peer",
       peer = $peer, msg = shortLog(msg)
     p.unsubscribePeer(peer.peerId)
-    raise exc
 
 proc broadcast*(
   p: PubSub,
@@ -102,12 +102,12 @@ proc broadcast*(
     peers = sendPeers.len, message = shortLog(msg)
   let sent = await allFinished(
     sendPeers.mapIt( p.send(it, msg, timeout) ))
-  return sent.filterIt( it.finished and it.error.isNil ).len
+  return sent.filterIt( it.finished and it.read ).len
 
 proc sendSubs*(p: PubSub,
                peer: PubSubPeer,
                topics: seq[string],
-               subscribe: bool): Future[void] =
+               subscribe: bool): Future[bool] =
   ## send subscriptions to remote peer
   p.send(
     peer,
@@ -175,11 +175,11 @@ method handleConn*(p: PubSub,
     # call pubsub rpc handler
     await p.rpcHandler(peer, msgs)
 
-  let peer = p.getOrCreatePeer(conn.peerInfo.peerId, proto)
-  if p.topics.len > 0:
-    await p.sendSubs(peer, toSeq(p.topics.keys), true)
-
   try:
+    let peer = p.getOrCreatePeer(conn.peerInfo.peerId, proto)
+    if p.topics.len > 0:
+      discard await p.sendSubs(peer, toSeq(p.topics.keys), true)
+
     peer.handler = handler
     await peer.handle(conn) # spawn peer read loop
     trace "pubsub peer handler ended", peer = peer.id
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ method subscribePeer*(p: PubSub, peer: PeerID) {.base.} =
     #      to escape to the poll loop.
     #      With a bit of luck, it may be harmless to ignore exceptions here -
     #      some cleanup is eventually done in PubSubPeer.send
-    traceAsyncErrors p.sendSubs(pubsubPeer, toSeq(p.topics.keys), true)
+    asyncCheck p.sendSubs(pubsubPeer, toSeq(p.topics.keys), true)
 
   pubsubPeer.subscribed = true
 
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ method subscribe*(p: PubSub,
 
   p.topics[topic].handler.add(handler)
 
-  var sent: seq[Future[void]]
+  var sent: seq[Future[bool]]
   for peer in toSeq(p.peers.values):
     sent.add(p.sendSubs(peer, @[topic], true))
 
diff --git a/libp2p/stream/bufferstream.nim b/libp2p/stream/bufferstream.nim
index a0fb92141..5cd33c1e6 100644
--- a/libp2p/stream/bufferstream.nim
+++ b/libp2p/stream/bufferstream.nim
@@ -129,7 +129,8 @@ proc initBufferStream*(s: BufferStream,
   if not(isNil(handler)):
     s.writeHandler = proc (data: seq[byte]) {.async, gcsafe.} =
       defer:
-        s.writeLock.release()
+        if s.writeLock.locked:
+          s.writeLock.release()
 
       # Using a lock here to guarantee
       # proper write ordering. This is
@@ -137,6 +138,7 @@ proc initBufferStream*(s: BufferStream,
       # implementing half-closed in mplex
       # or other functionality that requires
       # strict message ordering
+
       await s.writeLock.acquire()
       await handler(data)