diff --git a/consumer.go b/consumer.go
index b04761ca6..46491fe2c 100644
--- a/consumer.go
+++ b/consumer.go
@@ -409,14 +409,23 @@ func (child *partitionConsumer) responseFeeder() {
 			// so shut it down and force the user to choose what to do
 			Logger.Printf("consumer/%s/%d shutting down because %s\n", child.topic, child.partition, err)
 			child.sendError(err)
-			child.AsyncClose()
+			select {
+			case child.dying <- nil:
+			case <-child.trigger:
+			}
 		case ErrUnknownTopicOrPartition, ErrNotLeaderForPartition, ErrLeaderNotAvailable:
 			// these three are not fatal errors, but do require redispatching
-			child.dying <- err
+			select {
+			case child.dying <- err:
+			case <-child.trigger:
+			}
 		default:
 			// dunno, tell the user and try redispatching
 			child.sendError(err)
-			child.dying <- err
+			select {
+			case child.dying <- err:
+			case <-child.trigger:
+			}
 		}
 
 		child.broker.acks.Done()