diff --git a/lib/System/Network/ZMQ/MDP/Client.hs b/lib/System/Network/ZMQ/MDP/Client.hs
--- a/lib/System/Network/ZMQ/MDP/Client.hs
+++ b/lib/System/Network/ZMQ/MDP/Client.hs
@@ -27,23 +27,29 @@
 
 
 -- this can either be XReq or Req...
-data ClientSocket = ClientSocket { clientSocket :: Socket Req }
+data ClientSocket = ClientSocket { clientSocket :: Socket XReq }
 
 
 data ClientError = ClientTimedOut
                  | ClientBadProtocol
 
 withClientSocket :: String -> (ClientSocket -> IO a) -> IO a
-withClientSocket socketAddress io =
- withContext 1 $ \c -> withSocket c Req $ \s -> do
-   connect s socketAddress
-   io (ClientSocket s)
-
+withClientSocket socketAddress io = do
+  outer <- withContext 1 $ \c -> do
+    res <- withSocket c XReq $ \s -> do
+      connect s socketAddress
+      res <- io (ClientSocket s)
+      return res
+    return res
+  return outer
+  
 -- pretty sure there's a nicer way of doing this...
-retry :: Monad m => Int -> m (Maybe a) -> m (Maybe a)
-retry n action = go n
+-- retry :: Monad m => Int -> m (Maybe a) -> m (Maybe a)
+retry :: (Eq a1, Num a1) => a1 -> IO (Maybe a) -> IO (Maybe a)
+retry n_ action = go n_
   where go 0 = return Nothing
         go n = do
+          -- Prelude.putStrLn "Retrying action"
           result <- action
           case result of
             Nothing -> go (n-1)
@@ -57,7 +63,12 @@
      sendAll sock msgs
      -- arguably we shouldn't retry if the protocol is bad.
      -- but i'm disinclined to make the code more complex to cope
-     maybeprot <- retry 3 $ timeout (1000000 * 3) $ receive sock []
+     
+     -- receive crashes hard when you try to timeout - but later, in zmq_term.
+     -- very odd
+
+     maybeprot <- retry 3 $ poll [S sock Z.In] (1000000 * 3) >>= pollExtract
+     -- maybeprot <- retry 3 $ timeout (1000000 * 3) $ receive sock []
      case maybeprot of
        Nothing -> return $ Left ClientTimedOut
        Just "MDPC01" -> do
@@ -65,5 +76,8 @@
          return $ Right res
        _ -> return $ Left ClientBadProtocol
   where
+    pollExtract [S s Z.In] = Just <$> receive s [] 
+    pollExtract _ = return Nothing
+    
     sock = clientSocket mdpcs
 
diff --git a/majordomo.cabal b/majordomo.cabal
--- a/majordomo.cabal
+++ b/majordomo.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 Name:                majordomo
-Version:             0.1.4
+Version:             0.1.5
 Synopsis:            Majordomo protocol for ZeroMQ
 Description:         The Majordomo Protocol (MDP) defines a reliable
                      service-oriented request-reply dialog between a
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 
 Executable mdp_client
   Main-is: mdp_client.hs
-  Build-depends: majordomo ==0.1.4, bytestring, cmdargs,base
+  Build-depends: majordomo ==0.1.5, bytestring, cmdargs,base
   hs-source-dirs: src
   ghc-options: -O2 -threaded
 
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
   ghc-options: -O2 -threaded
   ghc-prof-options: -auto-all
   hs-source-dirs: src
-  Build-depends: majordomo ==0.1.4,bytestring, 
+  Build-depends: majordomo ==0.1.5,bytestring, 
                  threads, unix,base
 
 Library