diff --git a/rpc/dataconn/stream/stream.go b/rpc/dataconn/stream/stream.go
index 4d3e900..554ba22 100644
--- a/rpc/dataconn/stream/stream.go
+++ b/rpc/dataconn/stream/stream.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"net"
 	"strings"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"unicode/utf8"
 
 	"github.com/zrepl/zrepl/logger"
@@ -81,8 +82,10 @@ func doWriteStream(ctx context.Context, c *heartbeatconn.Conn, stream io.Reader,
 	}
 
 	reads := make(chan read, 5)
+	var stopReading uint32
 	go func() {
-		for {
+		defer close(reads)
+		for atomic.LoadUint32(&stopReading) == 0 {
 			buffer := bufpool.Get(1 << FramePayloadShift)
 			bufferBytes := buffer.Bytes()
 			n, err := io.ReadFull(stream, bufferBytes)
@@ -97,12 +100,21 @@ func doWriteStream(ctx context.Context, c *heartbeatconn.Conn, stream io.Reader,
 			}
 			if err != nil {
 				reads <- read{err: err} // RULE1
-				close(reads)
 				return
 			}
 		}
 	}()
 
+	defer func() {
+		// stop reading
+		atomic.StoreUint32(&stopReading, 1)
+		// drain in-flight reads
+		for read := range reads {
+			debug("doWriteStream: drain read channel")
+			read.buf.Free()
+		}
+	}()
+
 	for read := range reads {
 		if read.err == nil {
 			// RULE 1: read.buf is valid
diff --git a/rpc/dataconn/stream/stream_conn.go b/rpc/dataconn/stream/stream_conn.go
index 7b1b081..66f36b7 100644
--- a/rpc/dataconn/stream/stream_conn.go
+++ b/rpc/dataconn/stream/stream_conn.go
@@ -189,5 +189,9 @@ func (c *Conn) SendStream(ctx context.Context, src zfs.StreamCopier, frameType u
 func (c *Conn) Close() error {
 	err := c.hc.Shutdown()
 	<-c.waitReadFramesDone
+	for read := range c.frameReads {
+		debug("Conn.Close() draining queued read")
+		read.f.Buffer.Free()
+	}
 	return err
 }