diff --git a/src/Simplex/Chat.hs b/src/Simplex/Chat.hs
index 61a9b3f4e6..abc7f5dc18 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Chat.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Chat.hs
@@ -164,7 +164,8 @@ newChatController
       mkChatController config randomPresetServers randomAgentServers ccVar smpAgent = do
         currentUser <- newTVarIO user
         currentRemoteHost <- newTVarIO Nothing
-        agentAsync <- newTVarIO Nothing
+        chatRunning <- newTVarIO False
+        subscribeAsync <- newTVarIO Nothing
         random <- liftIO C.newRandom
         eventSeq <- newTVarIO 0
         inputQ <- newTBQueueIO tbqSize
@@ -206,7 +207,8 @@ newChatController
                   randomAgentServers,
                   currentRemoteHost,
                   smpAgent,
-                  agentAsync,
+                  chatRunning,
+                  subscribeAsync,
                   chatStore,
                   chatStoreChanged,
                   random,
diff --git a/src/Simplex/Chat/Controller.hs b/src/Simplex/Chat/Controller.hs
index 27b3fedae6..76736f7f44 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Chat/Controller.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Chat/Controller.hs
@@ -231,7 +231,8 @@ data ChatController = ChatController
     currentRemoteHost :: TVar (Maybe RemoteHostId),
     firstTime :: Bool,
     smpAgent :: AgentClient,
-    agentAsync :: TVar (Maybe (Async (), Maybe (Async ()))),
+    chatRunning :: TVar Bool,
+    subscribeAsync :: TVar (Maybe (Async ())),
     chatStore :: DBStore,
     chatStoreChanged :: TVar Bool, -- if True, chat should be fully restarted
     random :: TVar ChaChaDRG,
diff --git a/src/Simplex/Chat/Core.hs b/src/Simplex/Chat/Core.hs
index bd6cac2110..3c98628b60 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Chat/Core.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Chat/Core.hs
@@ -76,11 +76,10 @@ runSimplexChat :: ChatConfig -> ChatOpts -> User -> ChatController -> (User -> C
 runSimplexChat ChatConfig {testView} ChatOpts {coreOptions = CoreChatOpts {chatRelay, maintenance}} u cc@ChatController {config = ChatConfig {chatHooks}} chat
   | maintenance = wait =<< async (chat u cc)
   | otherwise = do
-      a1 <- runReaderT (startChatController True True) cc
+      runReaderT (startChatController True True) cc
       when (chatRelay && not testView) $ askCreateRelayAddress cc u
       forM_ (postStartHook chatHooks) ($ cc)
-      a2 <- async $ chat u cc
-      waitEither_ a1 a2
+      chat u cc
 
 sendChatCmdStr :: ChatController -> String -> IO (Either ChatError ChatResponse)
 sendChatCmdStr cc s = runReaderT (execChatCommand Nothing (encodeUtf8 $ T.pack s) 0) cc
diff --git a/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Commands.hs b/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Commands.hs
index d8c1ae6723..529f1caf93 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Commands.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Commands.hs
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ videoFilePrefix :: String
 videoFilePrefix = "video_"
 
 -- enableSndFiles has no effect when mainApp is True
-startChatController :: Bool -> Bool -> CM' (Async ())
+startChatController :: Bool -> Bool -> CM' ()
 startChatController mainApp enableSndFiles = do
   asks smpAgent >>= liftIO . resumeAgentClient
   unless mainApp $ chatWriteVar' subscriptionMode SMOnlyCreate
@@ -174,8 +174,7 @@ startChatController mainApp enableSndFiles = do
     Left e -> liftIO $ putStrLn $ "Error synchronizing connections: " <> show e
     Right _ -> pure ()
   restoreCalls
-  s <- asks agentAsync
-  readTVarIO s >>= maybe (start s users) (pure . fst)
+  unlessM (chatReadVar' chatRunning) $ start users
   where
     syncConnections' users =
       whenM (withFastStore' shouldSyncConnections) $ do
@@ -184,13 +183,13 @@ startChatController mainApp enableSndFiles = do
         (userDiff, connDiff) <- withAgent (\a -> syncConnections a aUserIds connIds)
         withFastStore' setConnectionsSyncTs
         toView $ CEvtConnectionsDiff (AgentUserId <$> userDiff) (AgentConnId <$> connDiff)
-    start s users = do
-      a1 <- async $ forever (liftIO $ threadDelay maxBound)
-      a2 <-
+    start users = do
+      a <-
         if mainApp
           then Just <$> async (subscribeUsers False users)
           else pure Nothing
-      atomically . writeTVar s $ Just (a1, a2)
+      chatWriteVar' chatRunning True
+      chatWriteVar' subscribeAsync a
       if mainApp
         then do
           startXFTP xftpStartWorkers
@@ -201,7 +200,6 @@ startChatController mainApp enableSndFiles = do
           void $ forkIO $ mapM_ startExpireCIs users
           startRelayChecks users
         else when enableSndFiles $ startXFTP xftpStartSndWorkers
-      pure a1
     startXFTP startWorkers = do
       tmp <- readTVarIO =<< asks tempDirectory
       runExceptT (withAgent $ \a -> startWorkers a tmp) >>= \case
@@ -279,17 +277,18 @@ restoreCalls = do
   atomically $ writeTVar calls callsMap
 
 stopChatController :: ChatController -> IO ()
-stopChatController ChatController {smpAgent, agentAsync = s, sndFiles, rcvFiles, expireCIFlags, remoteHostSessions, remoteCtrlSession} = do
+stopChatController ChatController {smpAgent, chatRunning, subscribeAsync, sndFiles, rcvFiles, expireCIFlags, remoteHostSessions, remoteCtrlSession} = do
   readTVarIO remoteHostSessions >>= mapM_ (cancelRemoteHost False . snd)
   atomically (stateTVar remoteCtrlSession (,Nothing)) >>= mapM_ (cancelRemoteCtrl False . snd)
   disconnectAgentClient smpAgent
-  readTVarIO s >>= mapM_ (\(a1, a2) -> forkIO $ uninterruptibleCancel a1 >> mapM_ uninterruptibleCancel a2)
+  readTVarIO subscribeAsync >>= mapM_ (void . forkIO . uninterruptibleCancel)
   closeFiles sndFiles
   closeFiles rcvFiles
   atomically $ do
     keys <- M.keys <$> readTVar expireCIFlags
     forM_ keys $ \k -> TM.insert k False expireCIFlags
-    writeTVar s Nothing
+    writeTVar chatRunning False
+    writeTVar subscribeAsync Nothing
   where
     closeFiles :: TVar (Map Int64 Handle) -> IO ()
     closeFiles files = do
@@ -481,10 +480,9 @@ processChatCommand vr nm = \case
     withChatLock "deleteUser" $ deleteChatUser user' delSMPQueues
   DeleteUser uName delSMPQueues viewPwd_ -> withUserName uName $ \userId -> APIDeleteUser userId delSMPQueues viewPwd_
   StartChat {mainApp, enableSndFiles} -> withUser' $ \_ ->
-    asks agentAsync >>= readTVarIO >>= \case
-      Just _ -> pure CRChatRunning
-      _ -> checkStoreNotChanged . lift $ startChatController mainApp enableSndFiles $> CRChatStarted
-  CheckChatRunning -> maybe CRChatStopped (const CRChatRunning) <$> chatReadVar agentAsync
+    ifM (chatReadVar chatRunning) (pure CRChatRunning) $
+      checkStoreNotChanged . lift $ startChatController mainApp enableSndFiles $> CRChatStarted
+  CheckChatRunning -> ifM (chatReadVar chatRunning) (pure CRChatRunning) (pure CRChatStopped)
   APIStopChat -> do
     ask >>= liftIO . stopChatController
     pure CRChatStopped
@@ -3465,7 +3463,7 @@ processChatCommand vr nm = \case
         CTGroup -> withFastStore' $ \db -> getMessageMentions db user chatId msg
         _ -> pure []
     checkChatStopped :: CM ChatResponse -> CM ChatResponse
-    checkChatStopped a = asks agentAsync >>= readTVarIO >>= maybe a (const $ throwChatError CEChatNotStopped)
+    checkChatStopped a = ifM (chatReadVar chatRunning) (throwChatError CEChatNotStopped) a
     setStoreChanged :: CM ()
     setStoreChanged = asks chatStoreChanged >>= atomically . (`writeTVar` True)
 #if !defined(dbPostgres)
diff --git a/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Internal.hs b/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Internal.hs
index eb0fd564e3..8e0f184258 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Internal.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Chat/Library/Internal.hs
@@ -2804,16 +2804,16 @@ checkSameUser :: UserId -> User -> CM ()
 checkSameUser userId User {userId = activeUserId} = when (userId /= activeUserId) $ throwChatError (CEDifferentActiveUser userId activeUserId)
 
 chatStarted :: CM' Bool
-chatStarted = fmap isJust . readTVarIO =<< asks agentAsync
+chatStarted = readTVarIO =<< asks chatRunning
 
 waitChatStartedAndActivated :: CM' ()
 waitChatStartedAndActivated = do
-  agentStarted <- asks agentAsync
+  chatRunning' <- asks chatRunning
   chatActivated <- asks chatActivated
   atomically $ do
-    started <- readTVar agentStarted
+    started <- readTVar chatRunning'
     activated <- readTVar chatActivated
-    unless (isJust started && activated) retry
+    unless (started && activated) retry
 
 chatVersionRange :: CM VersionRangeChat
 chatVersionRange = lift chatVersionRange'
diff --git a/tests/ChatClient.hs b/tests/ChatClient.hs
index ede3c1f2a2..1741d97abf 100644
--- a/tests/ChatClient.hs
+++ b/tests/ChatClient.hs
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ import Simplex.Messaging.Server.Env.STM (ServerConfig (..), ServerStoreCfg (..),
 import Simplex.Messaging.Server.MsgStore.STM (STMMsgStore)
 import Simplex.Messaging.Transport
 import Simplex.Messaging.Transport.Server (ServerCredentials (..), mkTransportServerConfig)
+import Simplex.Messaging.Util (unlessM)
 import Simplex.Messaging.Version
 import Simplex.Messaging.Version.Internal
 import System.Directory (createDirectoryIfMissing, removeDirectoryRecursive)
@@ -318,7 +319,7 @@ startTestChat_ TestParams {printOutput} db cfg opts@ChatOpts {coreOptions = Core
   Right cc <- newChatController db (Just user) cfg opts False
   void $ execChatCommand' (SetTempFolder "tests/tmp/tmp") 0 `runReaderT` cc
   chatAsync <- async $ runSimplexChat cfg opts user cc $ \_u cc' -> runChatTerminal ct cc' opts
-  unless maintenance $ atomically $ readTVar (agentAsync cc) >>= \a -> when (isNothing a) retry
+  unless maintenance $ atomically $ unlessM (readTVar $ chatRunning cc) retry
   termQ <- newTQueueIO
   termAsync <- async $ readTerminalOutput t termQ
   pure TestCC {chatController = cc, virtualTerminal = t, chatAsync, termAsync, termQ, printOutput}