diff --git a/kernel-module/nft_rtpengine.c b/kernel-module/nft_rtpengine.c
index c0382dd98..db251f327 100644
--- a/kernel-module/nft_rtpengine.c
+++ b/kernel-module/nft_rtpengine.c
@@ -427,7 +427,7 @@ struct re_stream {
 	unsigned int			list_count;
 	wait_queue_head_t		read_wq;
 	wait_queue_head_t		close_wq;
-	int				eof; /* protected by packet_list_lock */
+	atomic_t			eof;
 };
 
 struct re_shm {
@@ -3046,6 +3046,9 @@ static struct re_stream *get_stream(struct re_call *call, unsigned int idx) {
 		return NULL;
 	if (call && ret->info.idx.call_idx != call->info.call_idx)
 		return NULL;
+	if (atomic_read(&ret->eof))
+		return NULL;
+
 	return ret;
 }
 /* handles the locking (read) and reffing */
@@ -3178,6 +3181,7 @@ out:
 
 	return err;
 }
+
 /* must be called lock-free */
 static void del_call(struct re_call *call, struct rtpengine_table *table) {
 	struct re_stream *stream;
@@ -3205,9 +3209,9 @@ static void del_call(struct re_call *call, struct rtpengine_table *table) {
 	_w_lock(&streams.lock, flags);
 	while (!list_empty(&call->streams)) {
 		stream = list_first_entry(&call->streams, struct re_stream, call_entry);
-		ref_get(stream);
+		list_del_init(&stream->call_entry); // remove from list and steal reference
 		_w_unlock(&streams.lock, flags);
-		del_stream(stream, table); /* removes it from this list */
+		del_stream(stream, table);
 		DBG("re-locking streams.lock\n");
 		_w_lock(&streams.lock, flags);
 	}
@@ -3362,21 +3366,13 @@ static void del_stream(struct re_stream *stream, struct rtpengine_table *table)
 
 	DBG("del_stream()\n");
 
-	DBG("locking stream's packet list lock\n");
-	spin_lock_irqsave(&stream->packet_list_lock, flags);
-
-	if (stream->eof) {
-		/* already done this */
-		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&stream->packet_list_lock, flags);
+	if (atomic_cmpxchg(&stream->eof, 0, 1)) {
+		// someone else already doing this
 		DBG("stream is EOF\n");
 		stream_put(stream);
 		return;
 	}
 
-	stream->eof = 1;
-
-	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&stream->packet_list_lock, flags);
-
 	clear_stream_packets(stream);
 
 	DBG("stream is finished (EOF), waking up threads\n");
@@ -3399,15 +3395,6 @@ static void del_stream(struct re_stream *stream, struct rtpengine_table *table)
 	}
 	_w_unlock(&streams.lock, flags);
 
-	/* At this point, there should only be 2 references left: ours, and the entry in
-	 * the "streams" array. Any other references are open files and we must wait until
-	 * they're closed. There can be no new open file references as the stream is set
-	 * to eof. */
-	DBG("del_stream() waiting for other refs\n");
-	while (atomic_read(&stream->refcnt) != 2)
-		wait_event_interruptible_timeout(stream->close_wq, atomic_read(&stream->refcnt) == 2, HZ / 10);
-
-	DBG("clearing stream's stream_idx entry\n");
 	_w_lock(&streams.lock, flags);
 	if (streams.array[stream->info.idx.stream_idx] == stream) {
 		auto_array_clear_index(&streams, stream->info.idx.stream_idx);
@@ -3417,6 +3404,12 @@ static void del_stream(struct re_stream *stream, struct rtpengine_table *table)
 		printk(KERN_WARNING "BUG in del_stream with streams.array\n");
 	_w_unlock(&streams.lock, flags);
 
+	// wait until we're the last ref. this waits until all open files are closed.
+	// no now refs can be obtained due to eof == 1
+	DBG("del_stream() waiting for other refs\n");
+	while (atomic_read(&stream->refcnt) != 1)
+		wait_event_interruptible_timeout(stream->close_wq, atomic_read(&stream->refcnt) == 1, HZ / 10);
+
 	DBG("del_stream() releasing last ref\n");
 	stream_put(stream);
 }
@@ -3471,7 +3464,7 @@ static ssize_t proc_stream_read(struct file *f, char __user *b, size_t l, loff_t
 	DBG("locking stream's packet list lock\n");
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&stream->packet_list_lock, flags);
 
-	while (list_empty(&stream->packet_list) && !stream->eof) {
+	while (list_empty(&stream->packet_list) && !atomic_read(&stream->eof)) {
 		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&stream->packet_list_lock, flags);
 		DBG("list is empty\n");
 		ret = -EAGAIN;
@@ -3479,14 +3472,15 @@ static ssize_t proc_stream_read(struct file *f, char __user *b, size_t l, loff_t
 			goto out;
 		DBG("going to sleep\n");
 		ret = -ERESTARTSYS;
-		if (wait_event_interruptible_timeout(stream->read_wq, !list_empty(&stream->packet_list) || stream->eof, HZ / 10))
+		if (wait_event_interruptible_timeout(stream->read_wq, !list_empty(&stream->packet_list)
+					|| atomic_read(&stream->eof), HZ / 10))
 			goto out;
 		DBG("awakened\n");
 		spin_lock_irqsave(&stream->packet_list_lock, flags);
 	}
 
 	ret = 0;
-	if (stream->eof) {
+	if (atomic_read(&stream->eof)) {
 		DBG("eof\n");
 		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&stream->packet_list_lock, flags);
 		goto out;
@@ -3575,7 +3569,7 @@ static unsigned int proc_stream_poll(struct file *f, struct poll_table_struct *p
 
 	if (!list_empty(&stream->packet_list))
 		ret |= POLLIN | POLLRDNORM;
-	if (stream->eof)
+	if (atomic_read(&stream->eof))
 		ret |= POLLIN | POLLRDNORM | POLLHUP | POLLRDHUP;
 
 	DBG("returning from proc_stream_poll()\n");
@@ -3591,7 +3585,6 @@ static int proc_stream_open(struct inode *i, struct file *f) {
 	int err;
 	unsigned int stream_idx = (unsigned int) (unsigned long) PDE_DATA(f->f_path.dentry->d_inode);
 	struct re_stream *stream;
-	unsigned long flags;
 
 	DBG("entering proc_stream_open()\n");
 
@@ -3602,13 +3595,10 @@ static int proc_stream_open(struct inode *i, struct file *f) {
 	if (!stream)
 		return -EIO;
 
-	spin_lock_irqsave(&stream->packet_list_lock, flags);
-	if (stream->eof) {
-		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&stream->packet_list_lock, flags);
+	if (atomic_read(&stream->eof)) {
 		stream_put(stream);
 		return -ETXTBSY;
 	}
-	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&stream->packet_list_lock, flags);
 
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -3646,7 +3636,7 @@ static void add_stream_packet(struct re_stream *stream, struct re_stream_packet
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&stream->packet_list_lock, flags);
 
 	err = 0;
-	if (stream->eof)
+	if (atomic_read(&stream->eof))
 		goto err; /* we accept, but ignore/discard */
 
 	DBG("adding packet to queue\n");