diff --git a/src/generator.c b/src/generator.c
index a50a40ae..75e55dff 100644
--- a/src/generator.c
+++ b/src/generator.c
@@ -1145,7 +1145,8 @@ static void send_notify(proxy_instance_t *proxi, int *sockd)
 	ni = proxi->current_notify;
 	if (unlikely(!ni)) {
 		mutex_unlock(&proxi->notify_lock);
-		goto out_close;
+		ASPRINTF(&msg, "notready");
+		goto out_send;
 	}
 	for (i = 0; i < ni->merkles; i++)
 		json_array_append_new(merkle_arr, json_string(&ni->merklehash[i][0]));
@@ -1160,9 +1161,9 @@ static void send_notify(proxy_instance_t *proxi, int *sockd)
 
 	msg = json_dumps(json_msg, JSON_NO_UTF8);
 	json_decref(json_msg);
+out_send:
 	send_unix_msg(*sockd, msg);
 	free(msg);
-out_close:
 	_Close(sockd);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/stratifier.c b/src/stratifier.c
index b0b0ebc1..bd194998 100644
--- a/src/stratifier.c
+++ b/src/stratifier.c
@@ -1103,6 +1103,10 @@ static void update_notify(ckpool_t *ckp)
 		LOGWARNING("Failed to get notify from generator in update_notify");
 		return;
 	}
+	if (unlikely(!safecmp(buf, "notready"))) {
+		LOGNOTICE("Generator not ready to send notify to stratifier");
+		return;
+	}
 
 	proxy = current_proxy(sdata);
 	if (unlikely(!proxy || !proxy->subscribed)) {