diff --git a/include/player.h b/include/player.h
index 584c613f..52edb336 100644
--- a/include/player.h
+++ b/include/player.h
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ struct player {
     time_t curup;		/* when last input was received */
     int aborted;		/* interrupt cookie received? */
     int eof;			/* EOF (cookie or real) received? */
+    int recvfail;		/* #recvclient() failures */
     int curid;			/* for pr, cur. line's id, -1 none */
     char *map;			/* pointer to in-mem map */
     char *bmap;			/* pointer to in-mem bmap */
diff --git a/src/lib/player/recvclient.c b/src/lib/player/recvclient.c
index 169a1424..5757aa40 100644
--- a/src/lib/player/recvclient.c
+++ b/src/lib/player/recvclient.c
@@ -90,10 +90,19 @@ recvclient(char *cmd, int size)
 	    player->eof = 1;
     }
 
-    if (player->eof)
-	return -1;
-    if (player->aborted)
-	return -2;
+    if (player->aborted || player->eof) {
+	player->recvfail++;
+	if (player->recvfail > 255) {
+	    /*
+	     * Looks like the thread is stuck in a loop that fails to
+	     * check errors; oops once, then slow it down drastically.
+	     */
+	    CANT_HAPPEN(player->recvfail == 256);
+	    empth_sleep(time(NULL) + 60);
+	}
+	return player->eof ? -1 : -2;
+    }
 
+    player->recvfail = 0;
     return count;
 }