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
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 
 
 -- this can either be XReq or Req...
-data ClientSocket = ClientSocket { clientSocket :: Socket XReq }
+data ClientSocket = ClientSocket { clientSocket :: Socket Req }
 
 
 data ClientError = ClientTimedOut
@@ -36,25 +36,13 @@
 withClientSocket :: String -> (ClientSocket -> IO a) -> IO a
 withClientSocket socketAddress io = do
   outer <- withContext 1 $ \c -> do
-    res <- withSocket c XReq $ \s -> do
+    res <- withSocket c Req $ \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 :: (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)
-            Just x -> return $ Just x
-    
 sendAndReceive :: ClientSocket -> ByteString -> [ByteString] -> IO (Either ClientError Response)
 sendAndReceive mdpcs svc msgs =
   do -- Z.send sock "" [SndMore]
@@ -66,8 +54,9 @@
      
      -- 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
+     -- following the design of the c client, we use a Req socket, 
+     -- and only try once.
+     maybeprot <- poll [S sock Z.In] (1000000 * 3) >>= pollExtract
      -- maybeprot <- retry 3 $ timeout (1000000 * 3) $ receive sock []
      case maybeprot of
        Nothing -> return $ Left ClientTimedOut
diff --git a/majordomo.cabal b/majordomo.cabal
--- a/majordomo.cabal
+++ b/majordomo.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 Name:                majordomo
-Version:             0.1.5
+Version:             0.1.6
 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 ==0.1.5, bytestring, cmdargs,base
+  Build-depends: majordomo ==0.1.6, 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 ==0.1.5,bytestring, 
+  Build-depends: majordomo ==0.1.6,bytestring, 
                  threads, unix,base
 
 Library
diff --git a/src/mdp_client.hs b/src/mdp_client.hs
--- a/src/mdp_client.hs
+++ b/src/mdp_client.hs
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
     else C.withClientSocket (broker s) $ \sock -> do
       res <- C.sendAndReceive sock (pack $ service s) (Prelude.map pack $ message_parts s)
       putStr $ case res of
+        -- nb we really should try more than once.
         Left C.ClientTimedOut    ->  "Timed out!"
         Left C.ClientBadProtocol -> "Bad protocol!"
         Right l ->  BS.concat . L.intersperse "\n" $ C.response l