diff --git a/client.py b/client.py
index 1ade5d9..fa93c26 100644
--- a/client.py
+++ b/client.py
@@ -273,6 +273,10 @@ def _main(listener, fw, ssh_cmd, remotename, python, latency_control,
             sock.close()
             return
         chan = mux.next_channel()
+        if not chan:
+            log('warning: too many open channels.  Discarded connection.\n')
+            sock.close()
+            return
         mux.send(chan, ssnet.CMD_CONNECT, '%s,%s' % dstip)
         outwrap = MuxWrapper(mux, chan)
         handlers.append(Proxy(SockWrapper(sock, sock), outwrap))
diff --git a/main.py b/main.py
index e76e596..3fe1e53 100755
--- a/main.py
+++ b/main.py
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ v,verbose  increase debug message verbosity
 e,ssh-cmd= the command to use to connect to the remote [ssh]
 seed-hosts= with -H, use these hostnames for initial scan (comma-separated)
 no-latency-control  sacrifice latency to improve bandwidth benchmarks
+wrap=      restart counting channel numbers after this number (for testing)
 D,daemon   run in the background as a daemon
 syslog     send log messages to syslog (default if you use --daemon)
 pidfile=   pidfile name (only if using --daemon) [./sshuttle.pid]
@@ -74,6 +75,9 @@ o = options.Options(optspec)
 
 if opt.daemon:
     opt.syslog = 1
+if opt.wrap:
+    import ssnet
+    ssnet.MAX_CHANNEL = int(opt.wrap)
 helpers.verbose = opt.verbose
 
 try:
diff --git a/ssnet.py b/ssnet.py
index 554d870..2145431 100644
--- a/ssnet.py
+++ b/ssnet.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import struct, socket, errno, select
 if not globals().get('skip_imports'):
     from helpers import *
+
+MAX_CHANNEL = 65535
     
 # these don't exist in the socket module in python 2.3!
 SHUT_RD = 0
@@ -300,7 +302,7 @@ class Mux(Handler):
         # channel 0 is special, so we never allocate it
         for timeout in xrange(1024):
             self.chani += 1
-            if self.chani > 65535:
+            if self.chani > MAX_CHANNEL:
                 self.chani = 1
             if not self.channels.get(self.chani):
                 return self.chani