diff --git a/lightningd/channel.c b/lightningd/channel.c
index c2dab0c334c6..a0df672751ae 100644
--- a/lightningd/channel.c
+++ b/lightningd/channel.c
@@ -32,9 +32,19 @@ void channel_set_owner(struct channel *channel, struct subd *owner,
 	if (old_owner) {
 		subd_release_channel(old_owner, channel);
 		if (channel->connected && !connects_to_peer(owner)) {
-			u8 *msg = towire_connectctl_peer_disconnected(NULL,
-							     &channel->peer->id);
-			subd_send_msg(channel->peer->ld->connectd, take(msg));
+			/* If shutting down, connectd no longer exists,
+			 * and we should not transfer peer to connectd.
+			 * Only transfer to connectd if connectd is
+			 * there to be transferred to.
+			 */
+			if (channel->peer->ld->connectd) {
+				u8 *msg;
+				msg = towire_connectctl_peer_disconnected(
+						NULL,
+						&channel->peer->id);
+				subd_send_msg(channel->peer->ld->connectd,
+					      take(msg));
+			}
 		}
 
 		if (reconnect) {
diff --git a/lightningd/lightningd.c b/lightningd/lightningd.c
index c85d7df4de9a..36996e2005d0 100644
--- a/lightningd/lightningd.c
+++ b/lightningd/lightningd.c
@@ -408,9 +408,9 @@ static void shutdown_subdaemons(struct lightningd *ld)
 	close(ld->hsm_fd);
 	/*~ The three "global" daemons, which we shutdown explicitly: we
 	 * give them 10 seconds to exit gracefully before killing them.  */
-	subd_shutdown(ld->connectd, 10);
-	subd_shutdown(ld->gossip, 10);
-	subd_shutdown(ld->hsm, 10);
+	ld->connectd = subd_shutdown(ld->connectd, 10);
+	ld->gossip = subd_shutdown(ld->gossip, 10);
+	ld->hsm = subd_shutdown(ld->hsm, 10);
 
 	/* Now we free all the HTLCs */
 	free_htlcs(ld, NULL);
diff --git a/lightningd/subd.c b/lightningd/subd.c
index 3097a5e59d07..8d5bc5663f8d 100644
--- a/lightningd/subd.c
+++ b/lightningd/subd.c
@@ -748,7 +748,7 @@ void subd_req_(const tal_t *ctx,
 	add_req(ctx, sd, type, num_fds_in, replycb, replycb_data);
 }
 
-void subd_shutdown(struct subd *sd, unsigned int seconds)
+struct subd *subd_shutdown(struct subd *sd, unsigned int seconds)
 {
 	log_debug(sd->log, "Shutting down");
 
@@ -761,7 +761,7 @@ void subd_shutdown(struct subd *sd, unsigned int seconds)
 	/* Wait for a while. */
 	while (seconds) {
 		if (waitpid(sd->pid, NULL, WNOHANG) > 0) {
-			return;
+			return (struct subd*) tal_free(sd);
 		}
 		sleep(1);
 		seconds--;
@@ -770,7 +770,7 @@ void subd_shutdown(struct subd *sd, unsigned int seconds)
 	/* Didn't die?  This will kill it harder */
 	sd->must_not_exit = false;
 	destroy_subd(sd);
-	tal_free(sd);
+	return (struct subd*) tal_free(sd);
 }
 
 void subd_release_channel(struct subd *owner, void *channel)
diff --git a/lightningd/subd.h b/lightningd/subd.h
index 459a0b972a2b..fcde5e8719f6 100644
--- a/lightningd/subd.h
+++ b/lightningd/subd.h
@@ -198,8 +198,12 @@ void subd_release_channel(struct subd *owner, void *channel);
  *
  * This closes the fd to the subdaemon, and gives it a little while to exit.
  * The @finished callback will never be called.
+ *
+ * Return value is null, so pattern should be:
+ *
+ * sd = subd_shutdown(sd, 10);
  */
-void subd_shutdown(struct subd *subd, unsigned int seconds);
+struct subd *subd_shutdown(struct subd *subd, unsigned int seconds);
 
 /* Ugly helper to get full pathname of the current binary. */
 const char *find_my_abspath(const tal_t *ctx, const char *argv0);