diff --git a/src/bitcoin.c b/src/bitcoin.c
index e94d5b97..ba4c82c1 100644
--- a/src/bitcoin.c
+++ b/src/bitcoin.c
@@ -262,12 +262,20 @@ bool gen_gbtbase(connsock_t *cs, gbtbase_t *gbt)
 			json_array_append_new(array, json_string_nocheck(&gbt->merklehash[i][0]));
 		json_object_set_new_nocheck(gbt->json, "merklehash", array);
 	}
+	ret = true;
 
 out:
 	json_decref(val);
 	return ret;
 }
 
+void clear_gbtbase(gbtbase_t *gbt)
+{
+	dealloc(gbt->txn_data);
+	json_decref(gbt->json);
+	gbt->json = NULL;
+}
+
 static const char *blockcount_req = "{\"method\": \"getblockcount\"}\n";
 
 /* Request getblockcount from bitcoind, returning the count or -1 if the call
diff --git a/src/bitcoin.h b/src/bitcoin.h
index 83cd916e..8c891e51 100644
--- a/src/bitcoin.h
+++ b/src/bitcoin.h
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ typedef struct gbtbase gbtbase_t;
 
 bool validate_address(connsock_t *cs, const char *address);
 bool gen_gbtbase(connsock_t *cs, gbtbase_t *gbt);
+void clear_gbtbase(gbtbase_t *gbt);
 int get_blockcount(connsock_t *cs);
 bool get_blockhash(connsock_t *cs, int height, char *hash);
 bool get_bestblockhash(connsock_t *cs, char *hash);
diff --git a/src/generator.c b/src/generator.c
index 3583279a..ff75400b 100644
--- a/src/generator.c
+++ b/src/generator.c
@@ -14,15 +14,19 @@
 #include "ckpool.h"
 #include "libckpool.h"
 #include "generator.h"
+#include "bitcoin.h"
 
 int generator(proc_instance_t *pi)
 {
 	ckpool_t *ckp = pi->ckp;
 	char *userpass = NULL;
+	gbtbase_t gbt;
 	connsock_t cs;
 	int ret = 0;
 
 	memset(&cs, 0, sizeof(cs));
+	memset(&gbt, 0, sizeof(gbt));
+
 	if (!ckp->btcdurl)
 		ckp->btcdurl = strdup("localhost:8332");
 	if (!ckp->btcdauth)
@@ -35,6 +39,7 @@ int generator(proc_instance_t *pi)
 		goto out;
 	}
 	userpass = strdup(ckp->btcdauth);
+	realloc_strcat(&userpass, ":");
 	realloc_strcat(&userpass, ckp->btcdpass);
 	cs.auth = http_base64(userpass);
 	if (!cs.auth) {
@@ -49,7 +54,16 @@ int generator(proc_instance_t *pi)
 		ret = 1;
 		goto out;
 	}
+	keep_sockalive(cs.fd);
+	block_socket(cs.fd);
 
+	/* Test we can connect, authorise and get a block template */
+	if (!gen_gbtbase(&cs, &gbt)) {
+		LOGWARNING("Failed to get test block template from %s:%s auth %s",
+			   cs.url, cs.port, userpass);
+		goto out;
+	}
+	clear_gbtbase(&gbt);
 out:
 	/* Clean up here */
 	dealloc(cs.url);
diff --git a/src/libckpool.c b/src/libckpool.c
index ceadd0af..9fa345ef 100644
--- a/src/libckpool.c
+++ b/src/libckpool.c
@@ -468,10 +468,12 @@ retry:
 		int extralen;
 
 		ret = recv(cs->fd, readbuf, bufsiz - 2, MSG_PEEK);
-		if (ret < 1) {
-			LOGNOTICE("Failed to recv in read_socket_line");
+		if (ret < 0) {
+			LOGERR("Failed to recv in read_socket_line");
 			goto out;
 		}
+		if (!ret)
+			continue;
 		eom = strchr(readbuf, '\n');
 		if (eom)
 			extralen = eom - readbuf + 1;
@@ -483,9 +485,8 @@ retry:
 		if (unlikely(!cs->buf))
 			quit(1, "Failed to alloc buf of %d bytes in read_socket_line", (int)buflen);
 		ret = recv(cs->fd, cs->buf + bufofs, extralen, 0);
-		if (ret != extralen) {
-			LOGNOTICE("Failed to recv %d bytes in read_socket_line", (int)buflen);
-			ret = -1;
+		if (ret < 0) {
+			LOGERR("Failed to recv %d bytes in read_socket_line", (int)buflen);
 			goto out;
 		}
 		bufofs += ret;