diff --git a/src/libnmdc/libnmdc.go b/src/libnmdc/libnmdc.go
index 0a3c253..85bfadb 100644
--- a/src/libnmdc/libnmdc.go
+++ b/src/libnmdc/libnmdc.go
@@ -314,6 +314,7 @@ func (this *HubConnection) processProtocolMessage(message string) {
 func (this *HubConnection) worker() {
 	var fullBuffer string
 	var err error = nil
+	var nbytes int = 0
 
 	for {
 
@@ -332,10 +333,12 @@ func (this *HubConnection) worker() {
 		}
 
 		// Read from socket into our local buffer (blocking)
-		readBuff := make([]byte, 4096)
-		nbytes, err := this.conn.Read(readBuff)
-		if nbytes > 0 {
-			fullBuffer += string(readBuff[0:nbytes])
+		if this.conn != nil {
+			readBuff := make([]byte, 4096)
+			nbytes, err = this.conn.Read(readBuff)
+			if nbytes > 0 {
+				fullBuffer += string(readBuff[0:nbytes])
+			}
 		}
 
 		// Maybe we disconnected