diff --git a/src/runtime/src/comms.rs b/src/runtime/src/comms.rs
index cf54bab..0da9d9f 100644
--- a/src/runtime/src/comms.rs
+++ b/src/runtime/src/comms.rs
@@ -861,7 +861,9 @@ pub fn main(timer: GlobalTimer, cfg: Config) {
                             // keep yielding
                         }) => (),
                         _ = terminate.async_wait().fuse() => (),
-                        _ = restart_idle.async_wait().fuse() => ()
+                        _ = async { 
+                            restart_idle.async_wait().fuse(),
+                            }
                     }
                     connection.signal();
                 });
@@ -926,8 +928,10 @@ pub fn main(timer: GlobalTimer, cfg: Config) {
                                         load_and_run_idle_kernel(&buffer, &control, &up_destinations, &aux_mutex, &routing_table, timer).await;
                                     }
                                 }).fuse() => (),
-                                _ = terminate.async_wait().fuse() => (),
-                                _ = restart_idle.async_wait().fuse() => ()
+                                _ = (async {
+                                    restart_idle.0.async_wait().await;
+                                    restart_idle.1.signal();
+                                }).fuse() => (),
                         }
                         drop(_lock);
                     }
diff --git a/src/runtime/src/mgmt.rs b/src/runtime/src/mgmt.rs
index ea79327..1eebd1e 100644
--- a/src/runtime/src/mgmt.rs
+++ b/src/runtime/src/mgmt.rs
@@ -201,10 +201,11 @@ async fn handle_connection(stream: &mut TcpStream, pull_id: Rc<RefCell<u32>>, cf
                 let value = cfg.write(&key, buffer);
                 if value.is_ok() {
                     debug!("write success");
-                    write_i8(stream, Reply::Success as i8).await?;
                     if key == "idle_kernel" {
-                        restart_idle.signal();
+                        restart_idle.1.async_wait().await?;
+                        restart_idle.0.signal();
                     }
+                    write_i8(stream, Reply::Success as i8).await?;
                 } else {
                     // this is an error because we do not expect write to fail
                     error!("failed to write: {:?}", value);