diff --git a/pkg/rpc/dial_drpc.go b/pkg/rpc/dial_drpc.go
index 74cc8647a..75674cb8a 100644
--- a/pkg/rpc/dial_drpc.go
+++ b/pkg/rpc/dial_drpc.go
@@ -18,13 +18,6 @@ const drpcHeader = "DRPC!!!1"
 func (d Dialer) dial(ctx context.Context, address string, tlsConfig *tls.Config) (_ *Conn, err error) {
 	defer mon.Task()(&ctx)(&err)
 
-	// set up an error to expire when the context is canceled
-	errCh := make(chan error, 2)
-	go func() {
-		<-ctx.Done()
-		errCh <- ctx.Err()
-	}()
-
 	// open the tcp socket to the address
 	rawConn, err := d.dialContext(ctx, address)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -37,14 +30,21 @@ func (d Dialer) dial(ctx context.Context, address string, tlsConfig *tls.Config)
 		return nil, Error.Wrap(err)
 	}
 
-	// perform the handshake racing with the context closing
+	// perform the handshake racing with the context closing. we use a buffer
+	// of size 1 so that the handshake can proceed even if no one is reading.
+	errCh := make(chan error, 1)
 	conn := tls.Client(rawConn, tlsConfig)
 	go func() { errCh <- conn.Handshake() }()
 
 	// see which wins and close the raw conn if there was any error. we can't
 	// close the tls connection concurrently with handshakes or it sometimes
 	// will panic. cool, huh?
-	if err := <-errCh; err != nil {
+	select {
+	case <-ctx.Done():
+		err = ctx.Err()
+	case err = <-errCh:
+	}
+	if err != nil {
 		_ = rawConn.Close()
 		return nil, Error.Wrap(err)
 	}