diff --git a/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/v1/Subscriber.java b/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/v1/Subscriber.java
index 74fdb6211abe..a5295ef74adc 100644
--- a/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/v1/Subscriber.java
+++ b/google-cloud-pubsub/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/pubsub/v1/Subscriber.java
@@ -39,12 +39,9 @@
 import com.google.common.base.Optional;
 import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
-import com.google.pubsub.v1.GetSubscriptionRequest;
 import com.google.pubsub.v1.ProjectSubscriptionName;
 import com.google.pubsub.v1.SubscriberGrpc;
-import com.google.pubsub.v1.SubscriberGrpc.SubscriberFutureStub;
 import com.google.pubsub.v1.SubscriberGrpc.SubscriberStub;
-import com.google.pubsub.v1.Subscription;
 import io.grpc.CallCredentials;
 import io.grpc.Channel;
 import io.grpc.auth.MoreCallCredentials;
@@ -56,7 +53,6 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService;
 import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledFuture;
-import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 import javax.annotation.Nullable;
@@ -301,7 +297,7 @@ protected void doStart() {
               @Override
               public void run() {
                 try {
-                    startStreamingConnections();
+                  startStreamingConnections();
                   notifyStarted();
                 } catch (Throwable t) {
                   notifyFailed(t);
@@ -313,16 +309,23 @@ public void run() {
 
   @Override
   protected void doStop() {
-    // stop connection is no-op if connections haven't been started.
-    stopAllStreamingConnections();
-    try {
-      for (AutoCloseable closeable : closeables) {
-        closeable.close();
-      }
-      notifyStopped();
-    } catch (Exception e) {
-      notifyFailed(e);
-    }
+    new Thread(
+            new Runnable() {
+              @Override
+              public void run() {
+                try {
+                  // stop connection is no-op if connections haven't been started.
+                  stopAllStreamingConnections();
+                  for (AutoCloseable closeable : closeables) {
+                    closeable.close();
+                  }
+                  notifyStopped();
+                } catch (Exception e) {
+                  notifyFailed(e);
+                }
+              }
+            })
+        .start();
   }
 
   private void startStreamingConnections() throws IOException {